Love and Fire
by Redhead and proud
Summary: On a seemingly routine mission Natasha and Clint encounter a teenage girl with abilities like nothing they have seen before. The girl is ruthless, unpredictable, and she's obeying the orders of a madman. Natasha will have to face an enemy she can't bring herself to harm and deal with her conflicted emotions towards Clint, before Love and Fire destroys her.
1. The Mansion

**A/N: This is my first Avengers story so don't hate me if I screw it up. It's set about a week after Thor 2: The Dark World. Please read and review, constructive criticism is more than welcome. **

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Basically if you could label the day when everything Natasha Romanoff knew went to ruins it would be the day they found her on that island.

Natasha sat next to Clint as they travelled towards their destination on a helicopter. She was glad to be on a mission with him, it had been a while since Fury had sent them out on a mission together. Recently the Director had been making Natasha train new agents which was the furthest thing from productive life at SHIELD could get.

The mission was going to be easy anyway.

Just recently a very rich scientist, Dr Harold Blake, had been discovered conducting illegal experiments. They had been sent out to his private island to check it out and make sure none of his experiments were deadly. It was only an easy job, but Natasha still had a bad feeling.

"We're nearly there," the pilot told them. "You might want to get ready."

Natasha stood up, so did Clint, his bow at the ready. The chopper would be landing on the island. There was a helipad there so the Doctor could access his island. The chopper would wait there for them. All of this was routine and Natasha should've had no reason to be shaky. This still felt like a bad idea though. Natasha had no clue why S.H.I.E.L.D needed them to do this. It wasn't the sort of thing you'd expect them to be concerned about.

"We're coming in now!" the pilot called to them.

Natasha got her first glimpse of the island as they got closer. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough for a giant white marble mansion. Soon the chopper hit the ground with a thud. Natasha climbed out first with Clint following. The pilot nodded at them and shut down the engines. Natasha spotted the mansion and headed towards it. Clint jogged to keep up.

She reached the front door and surveyed the mansion closer. The hedges were neatly trimmed, showing evidence of a gardener, there were decorative marble pillars that held up the balcony on the second floor. The windows were all arched shaped and had the blinds shut. The house seemed empty. But there was no way to be sure unless they checked it out. For someone who was supposed to be rich, Natasha found it odd that there weren't many security devices in place. The front door just had an old fashioned lock on it. Natasha was insulted for a minute that Fury would give her such a mission.

Clint looked at Natasha, then to the door. "Ladies first," he said.

Natasha gave him a look then cocked her gun. Clint drew an arrow just as Natasha slowly opened the door. She stepped inside and swept the surrounding with her gun held high. Clint followed after with his bow raised. They had stepped into the Grand Entrance. The place was empty and dark, but they knew that turning the lights on was a bad idea.

Natasha moved towards the kitchen while Clint headed in the other direction. She looked around all the corners and checked everywhere. The assassin moved on down the hallway checking all the room. At first she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Eventually when she entered the Doctor's large study she finally noticed something suspicious. The study itself was large and ornate with a fireplace at the end of the room, a large desk, and It even had stuffed animal heads mounted on the wall. Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes.

What she noticed in particular was the bookshelf. All of the books were either stacked messily or knocked off the bookshelf, and were covered with dust. Except one. There was a green book with gold bindings that stood perfectly stacked and there was not one speck of dust anywhere on its cover.

Natasha moved towards it and looked at the book closely. It didn't even have a title. She put a hand on it and pulled it slowly. She stepped back quickly as the bookshelf slid sideways revealing a doorway that led into a room that looked like an office.

Natasha scoffed. "Could you get any more cliché?" she muttered to herself as she walked into the room.

It was a plain white colour with a single desk and a file cabinet. The desk contained a computer, a container of pens and a leather bound notebook. Natasha closely inspected the scene for anything that stood out, like traps or maybe a deadly weapon. She declared it all clear.

Again, what stood out was the really, really bad security in the giant mansion. Either Doctor Blake was very stupid or there was something more sinister going on.

"Hawkeye are you there?" Natasha asked through her earpiece.

"I'm here" he replied.

"I think I might have something," she told him. "I'm in a secret room connected to the study."

"A secret room?"

"Yep. Hidden behind the bookshelf would you believe?"

She heard him scoff on the other end of the earpiece. "I'm coming."

Sure enough he arrived a few minutes later and gave the doorway that led into the office a sideways glance. Natasha sat with her feet on the desk looking through the leather bound book that she had now discovered was a sort of log book. She held it up for him to see.

"I found out exactly what he was up to," she informed her fellow agent. She began reading from the book. "_Test Subject 1 is deceased approximately one hour after receiving treatment_." She turned over several pages. "_Test Subject 2 received treatment that caused severe side effects of hallucination, anxiety and has also turned feral. Action taken in the form of termination_."

Clint gave her a confused look. "No wonder these experiments were classified illegal. What was he trying to do? What's this treatment he keeps talking about?" As usual she was awarded with a bombardment of question. Natasha didn't really mind though.

The Black Widow began flipping through the pages. "I think it said something about it way back…Here!" she called out in triumph when she discovered the right page. "_I believe I have discovered the secret to superficial abilities far beyond what they were able to comprehend fifty years ago. It will be through a series of trial and error attempts for me to be able to come close to shaping the treatment into perfection_."

"Well it's official. This guy is a total creep," Clint said after a long moment of silence. "Do you think he might've succeeded in whatever he was trying to do?"

"I don't know I haven't checked out the back of the book yet, just give me a minute," she began leafing through the book yet again and eventually came to a page that made her sit up straight and take her feet off the desk. "Listen to this. _Finally I have found the correct formula. It has been exactly 24 hours since Subject 7 received treatment and has responded positively. Signs are already showing of super accelerated brain activity and the subject has begun to show unique abilities almost instantly. The subject has been appropriately named Phoenix_."

Natasha slowly lowered the book and looked up at Clint. Then the screen in front of Natasha blinked to life. At first the screen was fuzzy, and then the picture cleared. Natasha saw six separate boxes appear on the screen, each of them showing a different scene.

"What the hell?" Clint asked.

"It's a security system," Natasha answered. "Doctor Blake was obviously monitoring something from this office. I think the real question here is. What was he monitoring?"

There was a sudden loud noise from below them that caused loud screeching alarms to begin blaring. Over the screens Natasha saw a door slam open and fly off the doorframe. Natasha sat up straight immediately and watched the screen closely. Nothing happened, until a shape appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the camera, causing one of the six sections of the screen to go static. Natasha jumped in shock and she heard Clint take a step backwards.

"I think that answers our question," Clint stated.

"Yep," Natasha agreed.

They jumped into action and ran out of the office, Natasha quickly grabbing the log book and stashing it into the belt of her SHIELD uniform. Natasha led the way down a hallway and spotted a door to a lift. Clint motioned with his bow for Natasha to press the button.

Finally there was some action at hand. Previously this mission was slowly making its way to the top of Natasha's most boring missions list. The Black Widow was not a woman that got excited often, but her body happily accepted the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins.

The lift arrived in front of them and opened. The interior was silver, but the alarm had caused a red flashing light which made the lift look a bit like an epileptic nightmare. Cocking her gun, Natasha nodded for Clint to walk in first. He obliged and carefully made his way inside Natasha following closely.

The lift reached the bottom level after a minute and when the stepped out the alarms seemed to stop. Natasha held her gun at the ready and scanned her surroundings.

She was in a room with white floors and tiles. There were several white desks with working monitors on them on either side of her. Directly opposite the lift, there was a door that must've led out into where they had seen the door blown off its hinge.

Clint reached the door first and opened it. Natasha slowly peered over his shoulder. There was a long corridor with doors all along it. She could see the broken door lying in on her right. There was no sign of any other person, which was a bad sign. When you can't see your enemy things get complicated.

"You watch the door," she signalled to her partner. "I'll check the security cameras."

Natasha moved towards the desk that displayed the images of different surroundings in the small basement complex while Clint stood by the door. She made sure to carefully inspect every single image on the screens in front of her. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, but it gave her a chance to see what was inside each room.

There were laboratories, with desks, computers, bottles of liquid and various other things you might find in the lair of a mad scientist. There were also medical rooms and rooms with near identical content to SHIELD's stimulation rooms. It was an odd setup, but not too odd once you connected the dots. This complex was designed specifically for Doctor Blake's experimentations.

"Anything sign of a hostile?" Clint asked her from his surveillance position at the door.

"Nothing yet," she informed him.

Movement on the far right monitor caught Natasha's attention and she saw something dart across one of the laboratories and hide in the far corner which was a blind spot for the camera. Natasha couldn't get a good look because it moved too fast, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

"Clint, we've got movement in one of the laboratories," Natasha called to him. He moved to her side and Natasha pointed to the screen where she'd spotted the movement, and played it back for Clint to see. Even in slow motion the picture was hard to make out.

Then there was movement on an opposite screen, whatever it was moved almost too fast for Natasha to see. "Wait hang on a minute. Give me a minute to work out the new position." She began quickly scanning the screens. Then Natasha finally spotted it. "It's running down the corridor to another room. I still can't get a clear picture."

"I'm going after it," Clint replied. He prepped his bow and moved out into the corridor.

"We don't know what we're dealing with here Clint," Natasha warned him.

"Then let's find out."

He ran out into the hallway and Natasha cocked her gun before going after him. She entered the corridor just in time to see a shape dart inside one of the rooms. It was human, Natasha could tell that much. Clint ran inside the room after it, the door automatically locked behind him.

She wasn't normally concerned for Clint's safety on missions. She knew full well that Agent Barton could handle himself. Without even properly processing the risk that might be waiting for her on the other side of the door, some instinct inside of Natasha awakened at the thought of her partner in danger. Her limbs moved faster than her brain. Natasha kicked the door open. Clint stood on the opposite side of the room and had his bow aimed at a person facing him.

They were small, smaller than Natasha had expected, and she could tell even from behind that this person was female. Her hair was long messy and tangled, not to mention bright red, nearly the colour of fire, a colour much more orange than Natasha's hair. Natasha aimed her gun and cocked it. The girl heard the sound turned, Natasha was finally granted a proper look at the mysterious girl. She was a young teenage girl, maybe 15 or younger. She had sharply defined features, with hollowed cheeks and dark blue eyes that were sunken and ringed with dark half-moon crescents. Her skin was most likely supposed to be pale naturally, but maybe lack of sun or even a sickness gave her skin tone a sickly effect in colour. Not only did this girl look ill, but she looked almost like she was in a permanent state of mental and physical pain.

There was no such thing as coincidence in the Black Widow's opinion. One she put all the pieces together it was obvious. The girl standing in front of her was Test Subject 7. The girl was Phoenix.

Natasha had killed hundreds of people. She was first trained as a ruthless assassin then as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. The first thing you learned was it doesn't matter who they are, they are a target and your enemy. The second thing they taught her was never show sympathy or mercy. Rule three, probably the most important rule that Natasha ever heard, and she lived by like it was her own personal mantra, and it practically was.

Never, ever hesitate.

Natasha made a decision and stuck with it, knowing full well that she was going against everything she knew. Natasha Romanoff held up her gun towards the ceiling and held up her arms so Phoenix could see that she meant no harm. "It's ok," she did her best to reassure Phoenix "We don't want to hurt you we want to help. Don't be scared it's ok." With a stern look from Natasha, Clint lowered his bow but he didn't look happy about it.

Phoenix looked in fear from one agent to the other. Natasha knew that it was a better idea to stay out but she couldn't help herself from slowly inching closer to the girl. As Natasha moved forward, Phoenix back away. "Go away," Phoenix finally spoke. Her accent was basic and common but her voice was shaky, clearly indicating that she was frightened. "Leave me alone. Go away," Phoenix raised her voice.

"It's ok, you don't need to be afraid. We want to help," Natasha attempted to convince the girl she wasn't a threat, but as she kept talking it seemed the girl was growing more and more scared. "Just come with us. We need to ask you a few questions. It's ok. You're safe now."

Phoenix backed up so far she hit the wall and continued to press herself up against it fearfully, attempting to put distance between herself and the advancing assassins. As Natasha got closer she saw the girl was in tears. "You're a liar. You're all liars," Phoenix sounded near hysterical. "Get back. Get away from me!"

"It's ok," Natasha tried to reassure her. She was close now. Close enough to reach out and touch her. It was at that moment she realised exactly why Phoenix was freaking out. They had backed her into a corner. It was the same concept with lions put them in a corner and they will strike. With no obvious exit for the girl and with no idea of what she might do, the future was completely unforeseeable.

But it clearly wasn't going to be good.

Natasha observed a change in Phoenix's eyes. Something became different within a split second, almost too fast for Natasha to see, but with her highly trained eyes Natasha caught it. The fear in her eyes was replaced with a vicious edge. Desperation, anger, fear.

She was going to strike.

Phoenix made eye contact with Natasha. "Get away," Phoenix hissed.

Natasha only had a second to react when she saw the fire curl around Phoenix's hands.

"DOWN!" she shouted the warning to her partner and they both dropped to floor within split seconds of the inferno,

Fire exploded all around the room around their heads and the assassin dared not look up. The flames licked up the walls of the room and threatened to consume them. Natasha felt the heat on her back and heard the roar of the fire. Strange how it could make so much noise in the confined room.

Then it stopped, the flames just put themselves out straight away, like turning off a light. There were scorch marks all around them where the fire had touched the walls. But there was a much more serious issue at hand. Phoenix was gone, having fled the room while the two Agents cowered from the flames.

Natasha wasted no time in reacting.

"Come on!" Natasha shouted as she ran out of the lab and down the corridor with her gun armed and raised. She reached the lift just as it began heading upwards. Natasha waited patiently for the lift to arrive. Clint caught up to her just a second after she reached the lift herself.

Natasha spent the time going over how stupid she had been. A pyrokinetic. How had she not seen it coming? A Phoenix is a mythological bird that will set itself on fire and then be reborn from the ashes. It was obvious. Natasha was so grateful her clothing was fire and heat proof.

Clint put a hand to his earpiece radio. "This is Agent Barton. We've got a hostile on the run. Female, roughly 14 or 15 years of age, about 5'4, orange hair. Take extreme caution the hostile is fast and can manipulate fire. I repeat take extreme caution."

"Copy," the voice on the other end of the line confirmed.

Natasha and Clint moved fast once the lift reached them. The minute they found their way back to the first floor a radio call came through to both of them. "The hostile is spotted running across the front yard. It looks like she running to the edge of the island."

Natasha and Clint shared equally confused glances. They both knew that it was a twenty foot drop off a steep cliff, all around the circumference of the island. If Phoenix jumped off she might survive, but she would never be able to swim to the nearest land mass.

Natasha reached the front door and attempted to open it, for some reason it wouldn't open. Phoenix had locked them inside. She was smarter than Natasha thought, but that made her even more dangerous. Natasha signalled to Clint and he nodded in understanding.

"Keep the hostile contained," Clint told the Agents over the radio. "Don't let her get away."

"Copy. We are approaching hostile now," one of them reported. "Hostile is looking down the edge of the island. She is standing near the helipad but has not spotted us yet. It looks like she found a gun. We are about to advance. Wait, the hostile has spotted us."

Natasha tensed and Clint waited for more details. "Hostile is advancing and is carrying a firearm weapon. Do we engage?" Clint paused as they asked the question, trying to decide whether they could shoot Phoenix or not. Natasha furiously shook her head at him, trying to tell him no. "Agent Barton do we engage? Agent Barton...!"

Screams erupted on the earpiece and gunshots fired like crazy. Clint started panicking and shouting into it. Natasha mustered all of her strength and kicked the front door open. Again, very rich Doctor with a super-secret complex in the basement for illegal experiments, but really crap security.

Natasha ran outside towards the helipad and saw Phoenix standing over the bodies of two men that were lying on the ground. Then she turned around and started running towards the cliff. Natasha ran after her but she was too late. Phoenix jumped off the cliff and straight down into the waters below. Natasha reached the cliff and peered over the edge. She saw nothing, not even a bubble.

She began to think that Phoenix died and sunk to the bottom when a speedboat raced out of a cave that was hidden in the side of the island. Phoenix was driving. She glanced back at Natasha before turning the speedboat and heading east. Towards what Natasha knew was California.

Clint caught up to Natasha and saw the speedboat as well. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from the edge. "Don't even think about jumping in there and swimming after her. S.H.I.E.L.D can track her. There's nothing more we can do here. Go start up the chopper and contact them. Tell them we have two Agents down."

Natasha nodded and headed for the chopper. She felt like kicking herself really, really hard. If she hadn't been such an idiot she could've stopped Phoenix back in the basement and the two agents would still be alive. It was her fault they were dead. She turned on the engine and grabbed the radio.

Director Fury was going to give her hell for this.


	2. The Tower

**A/N: Due to the downtime yesterday I noticed not a lot of people actually saw the story but that's ok, here's chapter 2. Warning: Minor Spoilers for Thor 2 ahead, I've tried my best not to reveal too much**

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"I cannot believe this!" Fury exclaimed throwing a file onto the desk in front of where Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff were siting. "I give you one routine, easy mission and you come back telling me that two of my agents are dead and that we have an escaped hostile who is apparently a 15 year old that has pyrokinesis."

"Uh she's actually 14 or 15, we're not really sure of her exact age," Clint spoke up.

Director Fury glared at him. "Shut up." He fell silent under the Director's hard stare. "I think the both of you could use some time off." Natasha sat up quickly. "I recommend a week's leave staying at Stark Tower where I can keep an eye on you."

"What!" Natasha exclaimed. "Sir we need to be out there looking for her."

"I already have people on the job, Agent Romanoff, it is not up for discussion. I need the both of you to collect your things and then I'll arrange transport to Stark Tower. You needn't worry about not having company. The others are there as well." With that Director Fury turned and walked away.

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Natasha sat in the car next to Clint as they drove to Stark Tower. Since the battle all the damage had been repaired and Tony had added rooms for all the Avengers along with training rooms. It was the current residence of Dr Banner. Apparently each Avenger had their room styled differently. Natasha hadn't seen her room yet but she suspected she would feel the need to punch Tony very, very hard very, very shortly.

The car ride was spent in silence. Natasha was not happy about being relocated to Stark Tower. She would have to spend her day wandering around and doing nothing while trying to avoid Tony who will almost certainly attempt to annoy her for fun. Not exactly her idea of a good vacation.

The car pulled up and Natasha stepped out carrying her duffle bag over her shoulder. Clint carried his own bag which was filled to burst with bows and arrows. They walked in the front door and saw a blonde receptionist sitting at the front desk. She did not smile at them.

"Second floor from the top," she told them in a drawled voice. "Mr Stark will be waiting for you up there."

The girl didn't sound too happy about her job. Natasha remembered her own experience working for Tony, she shuddered. Having to flirt with him was the worst. They stepped into the elevator and Natasha spotted the button for the correct floor. She shrugged and pressed it. Instantly something popped out from the top of the elevator and scanned them. Natasha drew her gun on instinct.

"Do not be alarmed madam," JARVIS's spoke. "I must scan anyone that attempts to access this floor. Security measures put in place by Mr Stark of course. Scan complete. Enjoy your stay at Stark Tower."

The scanning device popped back into the celling and the elevator shot upwards. Natasha saw a security camera in the right corner of the elevator. She smirked. At least Tony Stark had better security then most recent mad scientist Natasha encountered. The elevator dinged as they reached the correct floor and the minute the doors slid open they were attacked.

"My friends!" an incredibly loud voice boomed. Thor walked forward and gave the both of them a bear hug. He was in a surprisingly good mood. Natasha and Clint dropped their bags at the door and scanned the surroundings.

Standing behind Thor was Captain Rogers, Dr Banner and Tony himself. They stood in a sort of living room with what looked like a kitchen and bar on the right. Natasha saw pictures of Iron Man and the Avengers all around the room and rolled her eyes.

Captain Rogers and Dr Banner greeted them with handshakes. Tony's way of greeting was. "I was watching you in the elevator and I have to say I'm disappointed. I put that camera there specifically for real, live time porn and you didn't even talk to each other." Natasha shot him a look.

Thor shoved Tony aside so hard he nearly fell over. "Please friends sit down," Thor motioned to the couch and Natasha noticed that he was resting his hammer Mjolnir on the coffee table. Natasha was personally waiting for Thor's explanation on why he was there. She was informed that he was in Asgard. Apparently someone got their information wrong.

"Thor it's very nice to see you and all, but. Why are you here?" Natasha asked with her hands clasped together in front of her.

Thor paused a second and then looked around the room at all of them. "I'm sure you all witnessed the occurrence in Greenwich. Well after those events and what happened on Asgard, my father advised me it would be wise to have some time away from Asgard. So I thought it best to come here and see my friends."

Natasha nodded in understanding but obviously the supplied information wasn't enough for some people. Steve leaned forward and looked the demigod up and down. "What about your girl Jane? Aren't you going to visit her?"

How Captain America knew about Thor's girlfriend, Natasha didn't know. The topic however was curious. Natasha didn't know much about Jane Foster, except that Thor obviously had a thing for her. It was strange for the assassin to be involved with normal things like gossiping and talking about romance.

"I actually spent the whole of yesterday with Lady Jane," no wonder Thor sounded happy. "She showed me some sights of Midgard. Then we spent a rather pleasant evening together."

Clint started to cough furiously and Steve looked to the side. Natasha shook her head in amusement. Although it was interesting to hear about the things she didn't know, Natasha didn't want to know that much about their relationship.

"You know, speaking of girls," Tony spoke up. "Pepper!" he called out. There was no reply. "JARVIS where's Pepper?" Tony asked his electronic butler.

"Taking a shower sir," JARVIS replied. "I recommend you don't..."

Tony wasn't listening. "Tell her to come out here. We have guests," he stood up and moved towards the window. He looked outside down at the streets of New York. Then he turned around to face them. "So would you like to see your rooms?" he asked Clint and Natasha.

Although the idea was ludicrous, Natasha still agreed. Tony led them back towards the elevator. He pressed another button and the elevator went downwards, Natasha did some quick calculations in her brain and came to the conclusion that the sleeping quarters were about two floors down from the main living area.

They stepped out into a hallway with doors along the sides. Each door had a different painted symbol on it, clearly labelling which room belonged to which Avenger. On her left Natasha saw a door painted red, blue, and white with the symbol of a shield, on her right Natasha saw a door painted green with the symbol of a fist.

Dr Banner broke his silence as he stepped in front of her and looked up at the green door. "If the door shocks you, then you definitely do not want to see what is inside," he told them as he took off his glasses to clean them on his shirt.

"Hey I designed those rooms specifically to represent our superhero abilities and stuff," Tony defended his decorating. "It is not my fault the room is green I just followed the superhero guidelines. You turn green, therefore the room is green."

Dr Banner sighed, clearly he heard this a lot. Tony led them past Dr Banner's room, he stopped in front of a door painted purple with a symbol of arrows on it. Just further down from Clint's room was the door for Natasha's room, which was painted black with her symbol.

The two S.H.I.E.L.D agents hesitated. Clint was the first to enter his room. Natasha peered around the door and saw a very stylish room with a double bed in the corner of the room and a bathroom on the left. It was decorated with black wallpaper and purple curtains covering the window. She was definitely jealous.

"You got lucky," Bruce commented from beside Natasha.

"Yeah well I decorated the first two rooms personally but then I got bored so JARVIS took over by reading your files," Tony explained from behind them. "Did I forget to mention I made a file on all of you?" Natasha and Bruce turned their heads towards him and glared. The billionaire shrugged his shoulders trying to look innocent.

Natasha turned to her door. With a hand on the doorknob she turned to Tony who smirked at her. She suddenly regretted coming here without arguing with Director Fury more. Then she turned back and opened the door. She dropped her bag at the door and stepped inside slowly.

Her queen sized bed was up in the centre of the room against the window. There was a desk with a computer on the right and on the left there was a bookshelf and wardrobe. The sheets on the bed looked like silk or velvet and the room was decorated black and red. Her bathroom was on the right. On the left, opposite the bathroom door, there were shelves built into the wall. She looked at them and opened the first one she saw. There were spaces for guns and ammo inside.

"Good enough?" Tony asked.

Natasha searched for words. "It will do," she replied.

At that moment Pepper decided to appear at the door wearing jeans and a buttoned up white t-shirt. Her hair was still wet and it was a mess. "What's going on? JARVIS said it was important. Has something happened?" She asked Tony. Then she realised he was smirking. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he replied as he walked away down the hallway.

Pepper gave them an apologetic look before following him. There was a silence between the two agents and Dr Banner. Then Bruce spoke. "I suggest you look in your room for any hidden cameras. Tony has a habit of spying on people. Captain Rogers is still convinced Tony hid a GPS tracking device inside his uniform."

There was another moment of silence. "Thank you Dr Banner," Natasha said before backing away into her room and closing the door.

Once inside she picked up her bag and dumped it onto the bed. She unpacked while scanning around her new room. She noticed a vent to the right of the door. She reminded herself to check it out later for any cameras. Then she realised she was still wearing her S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and found suitable casual clothes to change into. A black shirt and pants was all she needed. Out of suspicion of the cameras she changed in the bathroom. She looked over her red hair and decided to leave it loose. It was pointless to tie it back at that moment.

Natasha sat on the edge of her bed trying to decide whether or not to go back out to the living room area where the rest of the Avengers were when someone knocked on her door. She tensed. It took a minute before she managed to remind herself that this was a secure building and that whoever was at the door was not trying to kill her. "Come in," she told them.

The door opened to reveal Clint. Natasha hadn't spoken to him since the Phoenix mission. She had no idea if he was angry with her or not. After all she was the one that compromised the mission. He walked in and stood in front of where she was still sitting on the bed. She didn't dare make eye contact. He finally spoke. "So do you like your room?" he asked.

"It's fine," she replied still refusing to look at him.

"Natasha," he spoke softly trying to get her to look at him. "Nat," he spoke louder and she finally looked up at him. "It wasn't your fault."

"If I hadn't hesitated those agents might still be alive," the words finally escaped from Natasha's mouth. Clint was the only person she could openly talk to. "I made a mistake, I don't know what happened to me in that basement but I thought I could…" she trailed off, bitting her lip to stop herself talking. She was upset of course but Natasha knew how to handle death, she was more angry with herself for allowing Phoenix to escape.

Clint moved and sat next to her. "Nat, even you wouldn't have had the guts to shoot her. Every single agent we have would've done the same thing. You're not to blame. You thought she was just a frightened teenage girl. You couldn't have known she would attack."

"Clint I was trained to kill when I was a child. I should've known more than anyone that she was dangerous. We both read that journal."

Clint grabbed her hands and looked directly into her eyes. For a moment Natasha's breath caught. Then she managed to keep control of herself. "Natasha there was nothing you could've done. S.H.I.E.L.D will find her. You should put this week to good use and relax," he told her firmly.

She sighed. "Ok fine. But just so you know I'm going to get bored really easily and I may end up causing serious harm to someone. Most likely Tony."

He chuckled. "There's a fully equipped training room below the bottom floor. Tony added it after we partially destroyed the tower. I don't know why, but it's off limits until tomorrow. You can survive one day can't you?" he asked the last part carefully. Natasha was occasionally prone to outbursts that more or less always involved knife throwing.

Natasha thought for a minute. She held up a single finger. "I can manage _one_ day. Any more than that and I won't hesitate to rip out JARVIS's main systems to gain access to that floor."

They laughed together. Natasha felt something spark in the back of her mind that brought forth an onslaught of memories shared with Clint on missions, but, as usual, she kept her emotions hidden. Recently though it was getting more difficult. On missions she could still keep up appearances and play any card to get her way. In real life with people she classified as friends, it was harder. For some reason she was getting more aware of everything around her when Clint came close. She was aware of her heart beat, her scent, and her appearance even. She couldn't explain it.

"Do you think we should go back out there and check on them?" Clint asked after a slight pause, mostly caused by The Black Widow's distraction of her own thoughts.

"I think that might be a good idea," she agreed.

They both stood up at the same time and walked down the hallway, past the doors painted by Tony, side by side. Surprisingly the sight that awaited them in the living room posed no immediate threat of danger. To be honest, the whole scene looked boring. Although after battling an army of aliens in Manhattan, everything looked boring for Natasha recently.

Tony was, to no one's surprise whatsoever, standing at the bar. Pepper looked uncomfortable sharing a couch with the God of Thunder and a man that could turn into a giant green rage monster at any given time. It only made matters worse that a man from the 40's was sitting across from her. Upon noticing Natasha's entrance into the room she jumped up and ran towards her.

"Hi Natasha. Listen I really need a break from this," she motioned to the scene behind her. "Do you want to come to the spa with me?"

"A spa?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah. I know it's not really your thing but Director Fury did say you needed time off. I figured going to the spa would be a good way to relax."

Natasha looked sceptical but Clint elbowed her gently. "Just go Nat."

She paused and scanned Pepper up and down. "Alright then," she agreed.

Pepper grinned, then grabbed Natasha's hand and dragged her towards the elevator. Clint watched them enter the elevator, Tony's humming caused them all to turn and look at him. He was sipping on a drink. He put a finger up signalling them to wait as he skulled the drink. Once her finished he put the empty glass down and turned to the four men still sitting on the couch.

"I have some highly important genius stuff to attend to. So, Legolas, can you take Thunder and Uncle Sam down to the shopping centre across the street? Rogers needs normal people clothes and Thor needs a babysitter. Banner will stay here, I don't particularly want to pay for a shopping centre smashed to pieces by a Hulk," Tony announced.

Clint honestly had nothing better to do so he simply nodded weakly knowing that things were about to get frustratingly annoying.


	3. The Separation

**A/N: As usual please read and review. Thanks to everyone who had already review, favourite and followed this story, you guys are the best. So just keep reading I guess and enjoy it.**

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"Ok I'll admit it," Natasha spoke with her eyes closed. "This is relaxing."

Both Pepper and Natasha lay side by side in a brightly lit room wearing white dressing gowns and towels around their hair keeping it in place. Women in white outfits worked on their nails. It was the first time in years Natasha had felt she could actually relax. Looking over at Pepper, she saw the other woman was just as content as she was.

"I know," Pepper agreed. "This is where I come when I need a break from all of it. Working for Tony is a lot more stressful than you think."

"On no I can imagine it's stressful," Natasha had no doubts about that. "Remember I did it once."

After a moment Pepper spoke. "What do you think the others are doing?"

"They're probably just sitting around, bored silly," Natasha replied with a smirk beginning to form at the corners of her mouth.

* * *

"Warrior Clint, what do you call this strange item?" Thor asked with his head pressed against the glass of one of the stores they were walking past. One of the shop assistants spotted him and jumped about a foot in the air. This was about the second time in half an hour Thor had shown interest in Earth technology.

"That's an iPhone," Clint sighed.

"What does it do?"

"It's a communication device. You can talk to people with it."

Thor pulled his face off the glass and gave him a strange look. "You mean instead of using their mouths to talk, they use this eye fone?"

"No they use it to talk to people over long distances," Clint explained, he really badly wanted to knock himself out so he wouldn't have to endure this torture. "It does other stuff as well, but it's mostly used for talking. It's a smartphone. They're very advanced and complicated."

"A smart fone? Do you mean to say this meagre device carries intelligence?" Thor looked startled.

"How can a phone be smart? It's only tiny anyway, it could fit in my palm," Captain America decided to butt into the conversation.

Clint was starting to get impatient. "Can we just keep moving please?" Clint asked. "People are giving us weird looks. We're not supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves."

They ignored him.

"Where's the cord? Phones are supposed to be connected by a cord."

"Perhaps it is an illusion of a higher power. A mere trick to disguise the true smart fone."

Clint watched as Thor walked into the store and picked up the iPhone on display. He started to shake it violently. "Where is your true master?" He demanded loudly at the top of his voice. Several people in the store turned to stare at him and one guy looked like he was about to yell at him and then changed his mind.

A small beep from the device indicated that SIRI had been activated. "I don't understand," the electronic voice replied.

"Where is your true master?" Thor demanded again louder and slower.

"Could you please repeat the question?"

"Where is your true master?"

"I don't understand."

Clint sighed and began banging his head on the glass repeatedly, until Thor jabbed at the screen furiously and SIRI's voice turned to a male speaking German. This caused Thor to rage at the phone he held in his hands and call it, what Clint would've guessed to be, Asgardian insults. At that moment he really regretted even considering the babysitting job Tony had forced upon him.

Clint got fed up and stormed into the store and snatched the iPhone out of Thor's hand, placing it back on display. All of the shop assistants and customers were staring at them as Hawkeye steered Thor out of the store and away from the crowd of staring people.

"Just forget it, it's not important," Clint told him. "We're just here to buy clothes."

"Very well," Thor thankfully let the matter drop. "Which market stall shall we pay a visit to next?"

"Tony requested specifically that I buy the Captain smart, sexy, casual clothing and he also felt the need to remind me that plaid is forbidden," Clint sighed. There were a few other clothing recommendations Tony Stark had made, but for the sake of his team leader, he decided not to mention it.

"How many stores are there in this one building?" Steve asked.

"Lots," Clint replied. He then spotted a clothing store that fit Tony's criteria without going way too over the top. The SHIELD agent saw it as his only option and headed towards it immediately before Thor and The Captain spotted anymore 21st century technology.

The events of the next few hours were near intolerable for Clint. Firstly Thor nearly knocked a store manager unconscious after he tried to help Steve with his purchase, which the Asgardian thought was an attempt at thievery. Next Captain America was recognised by a swarm girls after he walked past a giant group of them lined up outside a comic book store. Clint also found himself having to explain everything to the two very out of place men. Even Starbucks. How do you explain Starbucks?

Just when he calmly reminded himself it would all be fine, he realised he had lost Captain America and Thor in a shopping centre.

Somehow while walking they had both wandered off without Clint noticing. Of course the simple solution would be for Clint to go to the management office and check the security cameras. However when Clint realised they were gone, he panicked and didn't want to get in trouble off Fury or Natasha. So instead he ran around the shopping centre looking for them in every store he passed.

After half an hour he was ready to fire and arrow at something, anything. Until he heard a scream coming from nearby and groaned in annoyance.

"Can't I catch one break?" he asked no one in particular before rushing off.

He ran past a corner and was almost knocked to the side by a man running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Chasing after the man was Captain America and Thor. With a closer look back at the man Clint realised that he was actually a thief due to the fact that he was running with a woman's handbag.

"Why did you not bring your mighty shield?" Thor yelled at Steve as they ran past the stunned archer.

"Why didn't you bring your hammer?" Steve shouted back.

* * *

Back at the spa Natasha sat in a chair with her hair dipped back into water, it was being washed by a very hot spa stylist that had been giving Natasha a look ever since she had walked into the room. Of course Natasha didn't particularly care about him, but there was definitely no harm in looking. Natasha kept an eye on him as he stroked his fingers through her hair.

Life was good.

* * *

If Clint Barton knew that his role as an Avenger involved chasing Thor and Captain America through a shopping centre while they tried to stop a thief, he would've had seconds thoughts about joining the Avengers. He'd only joined the superhero team on the spot because of three reasons. 1. He wanted revenge on the bastard Loki who took over his brain and made him betray SHIELD. 2. He wanted to help people and save New York, and 3. He could never say no to Natasha Romanoff.

Ever since he first made the decision not to pull the trigger Clint had known he'd made the right choice. Natasha however, was one of the most manipulative people he knew. Also one of the best fighters. So as he chased after the Norse God of Thunder and a soldier from WWII, he couldn't help thinking how much he really wanted Natasha to be there so she could kick everyone's butt.

It was Steve that caught up to the thief first.

He managed to throw himself at him and knock him flat to the ground. Thor then pulled the man out from underneath the Super Soldier and plucked the handbag out of the man's hand. Then he head butted him and dropped the man out of his grip. He fell to the ground unconscious and Thor handed the handbag back to the stunned woman it had belonged to, who had finally managed to catch up with them.

"Whatever happened to not drawing attention to ourselves?" Clint asked as the crowd around them grew bigger and the mall cops arrived and dragged the unconscious thief off.

Just at that moment the same girls that had ambushed Steve outside the comic book store, rushed forward in an excited swarm and gathered around them screaming and making a big deal out of it. "Great now the fangirls are here," Clint said bitterly, throwing his hands in the air.

After about 20 minutes Clint finally managed to escape the shopping centre with Steve and Thor. They had managed to get out before the press arrived which was the only bit of luck Clint had received all day. Steve looked stunned and flustered. Thor looked confident and obviously felt pleased with himself.

By the time they got back to the Tower, Pepper and Natasha, who had already returned from their trip to the spa, were talking to each other in the lounge room when Clint walked out of the elevator. He walked over without saying a word and collapsed next to Natasha.

Following him were Steve and Thor, both of them carrying shopping bags and talking to each other about the events of the day. The two women in the room stopped talking and looked at each other before smirking and turning to the boys.

_Oh shit I am in for it _Clint thought.

"So how did the shopping trip go?" Natasha asked them with a sideways glance at the archer.

"It was different," Steve replied. "The clothes are weird."

"I believed it was most interesting," Thor said. "It was the most abundant and varied market place I ever saw. Though I could not find one blacksmith, craftsman or weaver, do you keep them elsewhere? Oh and myself and the Captain battled against a thief," he added after a moment of thinking.

"You did what?" Pepper asked.

"There was this guy who stole a woman's purse. So we chased him down and stopped him," Steve answered. "No big deal."

"If only I had been carrying Mjolnir, then I could've struck the thief with a mighty blow," Thor said. "But Stark told me I would not require it."

"Yeah we all know Tony's an idiot," Natasha waved him off then turned to Clint. "Where were you when all this went down?"

"Um…" Clint moved slightly further away from the master assassin.

"It was our fault Agent Romanoff, we wandered off," Steve quickly came to Clint's rescue.

Natasha didn't remove her eyes from Clint. "How long did it take you to find them?"

He muttered the answer and he saw her reach for the knife she always carried, strapped to her leg. "Half an hour," Clint spoke quickly to stop her from drawing the knife. Unfortunately it didn't work.

She jumped up so fast it was a red and black blur. Clint scrambled over the top of the couch and hid behind it fearfully. She got up on top of the couch and bent down close to his face. "You're telling me you, a master assassin, lost Captain America and a Demigod in a shopping centre and it took you half an hour to find them?" she demanded softly with her knife pressed against his throat.

"Natasha please don't. Imagine what Fury would say if you killed me. You might have to spend more time on leave," he tried to convince her.

She tilted her head and gave him that look that she gave him whenever she thought he was being an idiot. She removed the knife from his neck and slid off the top of the couch so she was sitting in the exact same spot she was before she attacked him. "Just making sure you were being honest."

Clint stood up and moved back to the couch, but sat on the opposite one from Natasha next to Steve who patted him on the shoulder sympathetically.

Pepper looked from assassin to assassin before managing to talk. "So Steve, what did you buy?" she asked, her voice strangely high pitched.

"Clothes," he replied.

There was an awkward silence. Pepper looked at her magazine, Thor and Steve both sat there and Natasha and Clint just stared at each other. Clint didn't want to look her in the eye but he did. She smirked at him and he returned her smirk with a sly grin. This meant that all was forgiven.

It had been hard to gain the trust of the Black Widow. Saving her life didn't help this at all, in fact it made her even less trusting of him. Eventually though he had got there in the end, and he was glad. He considered Natasha a friend, but there was no denying it. She was beautiful, intelligent and so many other things.

Ever since meeting the Black Widow he had been compromised. She had taken his heart thrown it around like it was a toy, and what was worse was that she had absolutely no idea. No idea of what he would do for her, no idea of how he felt about her.

Clint had never gotten his hopes up, not once. He knew there was no chance. His emotions towards Natasha were difficult to explain. It wasn't quite love, not really, but it was more than just a simple friendship and partnership. It never really concerned Clint, defining the nature of his emotion was not the most important thing.

Natasha was one of the five reasons Clint ever got up in the morning, romance of not, she would always be important to him.


	4. The Practice

**A/N: I'm back again with chapter 4 everyone. Thanks to everyone that's read it so far. I need more reviews though, even if you think the story is bad please, please, please review and tell me where I screwed up. As always, read, review and enjoy.**

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Slowly Natasha rolled over in bed and reached a hand up to turn on the light on her bedside table. She surveyed her surroundings like she did every morning when she woke up. She was still in her room at Stark Tower, the curtains were pulled across the windows but it was obvious to Natasha that the sun hadn't risen yet.

Natasha glanced across the room and spotted her training outfit hanging on a coat hanger. She smiled and remembered that the Training Room would finally be available to her. She could list three occupants of Stark Tower that would be just as eager to use the room as her. So getting there as early as possible was essential if she wanted to train alone for a little while.

After slipping on her training gear she made her way upstairs first to the kitchen. She did need to eat something if she even dreamed of having enough energy for the training session she had planned. A single piece of toast with jam would be fine. Once she finished she got into the lift and pressed the button for the Training Room.

The lift opened and Natasha nodded in approval at the design Tony had come up with. The whole thing was huge, it reminded her of a gymnasium, it reached up high as well. The roof was about 20 metres high, maybe more, and the whole structure curved around so it looked slightly like a dome. There were doors on the opposite side that Natasha predicated led into bathrooms and/or change rooms. There were seating areas as well around the sides. There were also cupboards that obviously contained various pieces of training equipment. The floor was made of the standard hard floors you would see in gyms and a lot of SHIELD training rooms. Natasha had to give Tony some small notes of approval that she would never repeat in front of him.

In the very centre of the room Natasha saw two people. That completely ruined her fantasy of training by herself. She was thankful however that it was just Clint and the Captain, they were tolerable. Both of them were standing on standard issue blue mats that had been pushed together to form a square. Natasha quickly observed that they were fighting. Clint was fast, but Steve was just as fast, and a lot stronger.

Steve flipped Clint and pinned him to the ground. A painful groan made its way out of Clint's mouth. "Damn you're good," the archer remarked.

Natasha approached them. "Are you boys having fun?" she asked.

"Hey Nat," Clint acknowledged her presence with a small wave while still lying on his back.

Steve offered a hand and helped him to his feet. He nodded at Natasha respectfully. "Ma'am," he said with his classic 1940's sense of a normal greeting. He looked apologetically at Clint who seemed to be clutching his left side. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. I've gotta let you win sometime don't I?" Clint defended his honour and stood up straight. Then he motioned to Natasha. "Can't say the same for Agent Romanoff here. I bet she could get pin you to the ground without even breaking a sweat."

"I'm sure she could, but I won't fight her."

"And why not?" Natasha turned to him with her arms folded. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Well yes," he noticed Natasha's facial expression and looked desperately for a better choice of words. "I mean…you're an excellent fighter but…"

Natasha moved in front of the Captain and gave him the most challenging look she could manage. It seemed to work because Steve stood rigid and Clint backed away. "Oh dear," the archer sighed.

Natasha snapped directly into action and ran at the Captain, he held up his right arm to defend but Natasha kicked her right leg up and knocked his arm aside, then she turned and elbowed him in his lower left side. His automatic reaction was to bend forward and Natasha used that to her advantage and spun around again so she was facing him once more. She grabbed his left hand and pulled him downwards, this brought him down to her level so she used her famous technique and wrapped her legs around his neck and spun, causing him to knock into the ground.

"The Captain is down!" Clint declared triumphantly off to the side as Natasha straightened up and flicked her hair out of her face. "The winner is Miss Natasha Romanoff."

"I think I owe you an apology," Steve said sheepishly as he got to his feet.

"No hard feelings Captain," Natasha replied.

"You might've won that round Nat, but I could see you were a little bit slow with your delivery on the leg strangling. You're not getting soft on me are you?" Clint asked with a smirk. It was obvious to Natasha that he was trying to mess with his head. She decided to play along with it, after all, Clint did need to be put in his place at least once a week.

She grabbed his wrist and turned his arm around until she was bending it in a very awkward direction. She twisted his arm so that it was incredibly painful for him, but would only cause damage if she twisted it just a little bit further. "It would be such a shame for the world class marksman to end up with a broken arm wouldn't it?" she asked, playing him like one of her mission assignments, innocent and sweet sounding, with just a hint of sarcasm and malice laced on top.

Clint winced in pain. "I was just making sure," he told her. She released his arm and he took a step back, out of her reach, rubbing him arm. "You're so defensive."

"I resent that Agent Barton," Natasha folded her arms and stood firmly, giving him a cocky and challenging look while raising one of her eyebrows. "Everyone knows that I'm a better spy than you and it's not because I'm a woman, it's because I am simply better."

Clint's mouth tightened and the Captain tried to stop laughing. Natasha smirked and spun on her heels, and strutted off to search through the equipment cupboard. She opened it and pulled out equipment, which she displayed to the boys as she walked back over to them.

"Now who wants to start with some proper training?" she asked.

They went on like that for hours, barely ever stopping. They kept training using different exercises. Natasha even got to teach the Captain a few new and modern moves that would help him a bit more. A little while after lunch Thor joined them and his idea of training was tossing his hammer around so Natasha and Clint teamed up to show him how to use some of the equipment.

It was going quite well. Towards the end they started a fighting challenge to see who could pin who to the ground fastest while using nothing but their bare hands. Natasha calculated the best way to hold their separate fights and drew up a list.

First up, it was the Captain America vs Black Widow rematch. Obviously Natasha won, but thankfully he didn't underestimate her this time and treated her like a real opponent. She still won though.

Second on the list was Hawkeye vs Thor. On the sidelines Steve and Natasha debated over who they thought would win.

"I respect that Agent Barton is an excellent fighter, but Thor's a big guy. I think Barton's going to get crushed," Steve was trying to be polite as possible.

"You underestimate him Captain," Natasha kept her tone cool. "I think he might surprise you."

"Just in case you forgot I was the one that beat him earlier," Steve added.

_Well clearly you don't know what the word no means, _Natasha thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Clint and Thor stepped onto the mat, both of them looking ready to pounce on each other. Natasha kept her eyes focused on them and watched intently. Thor of course was the first one to make a move. He lunged forward and attempted to serve Clint with a hard right hook that Hawkeye swiftly dodged. Natasha smirked, Thor was used to his opponents being all about the offensive, Natasha highly doubted that a lot of the people the demigod fought actually knew how to fight on the defensive.

This was evident by the look on Thor's face as Clint dodged another assault. Now Thor was getting mad and that exposed his weakness. First rule of fighting was to never let your emotions control you. That was exactly where Thor went wrong.

Thor swing madly and Natasha guessed that if he had actually hit his target Clint wouldn't have had a face anymore, luckily though Clint had jumped backwards. While Thor distracted himself by throwing another mad swing Clint ducked low and tripped up the demigod by connecting his right leg with Thor's ankles.

Natasha fought back a small smile, she had taught him that trick.

That was when things took a turn for the worse. Before Clint could serve the final blow, Thor jumped to his feet and with a roar and grabbed Clint by his arms and legs. He held the archer above his head and tossed him across the room. Clint hit the ground hard and rolled across the floor before finally coming to a stop.

"Holy mother of Christ!" Clint exclaimed in pain as he tried to sit up.

"I guess I was right," Steve sounded smug.

"Actually I never said Clint was going to win, I said he was going to surprise you," Natasha looked Steve directly in the eye while acting sly and innocent. "Do you consider yourself surprised Captain?"

"Well yes but…"

"Then by that logic I am the one who is right," Natasha could've finished there but continued on anyway. Twice today he had insulted her and she wasn't going to let that drop whether it was said intentionally or not. "And didn't you also say that he was going to get crushed? Does Agent Barton look crushed to you?"

"No, but I meant that metaphorically and…"

"So I was right when saying that he would surprise you, and you were wrong in saying that he was going to get crushed," Natasha listed the facts for him. "And also how can you be right about Clint loosing when you never predicted that he would lose in the first place?"

Captain Rogers was at a loss for words so Natasha decided to deliver the final killing blow.

"Maybe next time Captain you won't be so quick to presume you are the smartest person in the room," she remarked coldly as she walked over to her partner.

Clint still lay on the floor looking beat. Thor, who obviously regretted his momentary loss of control but still found it funny at the same time, stood over Clint making sure that he was still alive. Natasha bent down and looked him in the eye with a demanding stare.

He lifted up his head. "What?" he asked.

"Get up," she told him. "It time for the losers match. You get to verse the Captain."

"Ugh," he groaned.

Despite the moaning he still managed to pick himself up off his back and after the painful and humiliating defeat he seemed very determined to win this match against the Super Soldier. It was hard to pick a winner throughout the fight. For a lot of the time it seemed like a stalemate.

In the end Steve won, only by a small fraction.

That meant it was time for the Black Widow to fight a demigod.

Natasha walked onto the mat and faced Thor, he nodded at her politely. "Do not worry Lady Romanoff. I will not be as hard on you."

"No don't," Steve sighed and put a hand over his eyes. "Don't say that."

Natasha looked at him, before turning her gaze to Thor. "Trust me," she started. "You will not have to go easy on me."

And then she lunged at him.

Minutes later Thor sat slumped into a chair. Clearly he wasn't used to being beaten, especially by a mortal. Natasha felt satisfied at having been able to slam his face onto the ground. Natasha, being small, had always learned to use other people's strength against them. So when you use the strength of a demigod against said unsuspecting demigod things get interesting.

And slightly bloody.

"I don't think I've fought you yet Captain," Thor looked to Steve. "Shall we do battle?"

"Uh sure," Steve had no choice but to agree.

No one wanted to fight Thor after he got slammed by Natasha, but he didn't really have another choice. They were evenly matched for most of the fight then Thor's temper came through for him again and he won. Both sides in the match came out with bruises. Even Natasha felt a small throbbing where she got slammed in the ribs by a demigod fist.

Now it was down to the last fight of the evening.

Black Widow vs Hawkeye.

Natasha stepped up to the mat and cocked an eyebrow at her partner who grimaced. She stood her ground so he took the first step forward. Usually Natasha was the one that attacked first and made the starting move, but this time she decided to be patient.

He ran forward and she sidestepped to the left to avoid. He intercepted her punch and he tried to hit her with one of his own which she also intercepted. Moving so he was directly in front of her he grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards him, connecting his knee with her gut.

Natasha breathed, ignoring the pain and wrapped her fingers tightly around Clint's wrists like he was doing to her. Then slowly she climbed up his legs until she was looking down at him with her feet digging into his upper legs for grip. He tried to shake her off but she held on. Then she moved fast, kicking him in the chest and throwing herself backwards. She hit the ground and bounced back up, running at him for another assault.

He held up his upper right arm to block her hit and she ducked underneath his outstretched arm and kicked him in the back. He nearly fell onto his face and pivoted around on his feet. Now standing behind her, Clint wrapped his right arm around her neck, and kicked her in the back of her legs where he knew she was bound to drop to her knees and she did. But as she did she flipped him over her shoulder. He fell onto his back but he jumped up before she got a chance to climb on top of him and pin him down.

Natasha was perched like a cat ready to pounce with her body close to the ground. She hesitated, then attacked. Throwing herself at him with a hard elbow to the chest and then the face. While he tried to catch his bearings Natasha struck. She was on top of him before he even realised, with her inner thighs wrapped tightly around his neck as Natasha latched herself onto his body. She clutched him with her legs for a second, and then head-butted him viciously. Then, with her legs still wrapped around his neck, she propelled herself forward. Clint felt himself fall backwards and his back hit the ground with a hard thud.

So he lay there defeated, with Natasha's legs still wrapped around his neck and her inner thighs threatening to choke him.

"That was possibly the hottest, most erotic fight scene I have ever witnessed."

Oh dear lord no.

Tony was watching them with a huge, impish grin plastered across his face. Thor and Steve were watching them as well looking equally shocked and embarrassed. Steve was practically the colour of a tomato. Natasha, who was still wrapped around Clint's neck, rolled her eyes.

She got up off him, which he was both grateful for and slightly disappointed. Though he tried to hide the former emotion. She looked over all of the men in the room and sighed. "Это все, что вы, ребята, можете думать?" she muttered in Russian.

Clint, who knew basic Russian, understood the word idiots.

"Yes well, you people do know that you have missed dinner and have been down in this room all day," Tony pointed out. "So I would really like it if you came upstairs now."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because Captain Perfection, it's time for drinks. So loosen up for once, because my friend, we are going to have fun."

* * *

**Translation for Это все, что вы, ребята, можете думать: That's all you boys can think of?**


	5. The Drinking

**A/N: I don't want to nag because I'll end up sounding like I'm 50 but could you please review after you read this chapter. Whether you think it's good or bad I want to know what you think of it. Cause right now I don't know if you all think it's good or not and if it is bad tell me where I screwed up so I can fix it. I've gone past nagging now, moving onto bribery. Review and you get more chapters. Trust me when I say, after this chapter, you'll want to know what happens next.**

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At first Natasha had been reluctant. She didn't like to drink on the job, but Tony and Clint continued to pester her by saying that she wasn't on the job. True, but she was holding out hope that Fury would call in with a mission. Eventually she couldn't resist the alcohol anymore and accepted the drink handed to her by Tony.

Sitting in the living area with drinks were Natasha, Clint, Steve, Tony, Thor and Pepper. Bruce had declined, for obvious reasons. Too much alcohol could lead to him getting overexcited, which would result in the Hulk. So he had retreated to his room to read a book. No one had argued.

Natasha had no idea where he got it from but Tony produced a bottle of Vodka. Natasha knew the brand well and nearly laughed, it was very strong stuff. She doubted that they could down it like the shots Tony had been hitting all night in an attempt to beat Captain America at various drinking games.

"You really think you'll be able to handle that?" Natasha asked as he started pouring everyone a glass.

"Trust me, I know how to handle my liquor Spider Woman," Tony sounded cocky.

Pepper, who had clearly demonstrated that she was a giggly drunk by laughing hysterically at everything after three drinks, was the first to have a go at her drink. She took one sip and put it back down gasping as she tried to keep the drink down.

"Ohmygod," she was already slurring.

"You next big guy," Tony pointed to Thor.

Thor held up his glass as a way of accepting the challenge and then poured all of it down his throat. The expression was nearly the same as Pepper, but the vodka only hit him at half strength because of his size. He still felt the kick though and gasped, his eyes bugging for a split second.

Next Clint stepped up to the challenge. He sent a huge and boasting grin all around the room. Then he sculled the drink. He shook his head and gasped really loudly as he felt the kick. He so far had the best result out of them all which was slightly surprising, seeing as he was already having trouble holding his liquor.

"Bam!" he exclaimed in triumph.

Rogers picked up his drink and sniffed it cautiously. Then he drained the glass of its content. He winced but that was about as major as it got.

"Wow," he said taking a deep breath. "That's some strong stuff."

Clint looked disappointed and Tony held up his glass. "Watch and learn children," he steadily downed the contents of his glass and took a deep breath after swallowing. It was obvious he was feeling the effects of the kick, but was forcing himself not the show it. "Beat that."

Natasha smirked, oh how she loved a challenge. She raised a cocky eyebrow in Tony's direction and grabbed the vodka bottle. She twisted the cap off, held the bottle to her mouth and titled her head back drinking straight from the bottle. She drained half its contents before putting it back on the table and watching Tony stare at her with an open mouth. The fiery kick raced down her throat and through her body but Natasha welcomed the buzz.

"Never challenge a Russian to a drinking game," Natasha smirked.

"Lady Natasha that is truly impressive," Thor was grinning.

Tony wasn't as impressed and proceeded to scowl at Natasha for a long time after that. She was actually enjoying herself, it wasn't often that she got a chance to sit down with the rest of her team members. Although most of them were drunk at that particular time.

The remainder of the night proceeded with more drinks and laughing. Pepper was the first to escape from the fray, excusing herself to bed. Captain America, who couldn't get drunk at all, politely said goodnight to everyone before heading down to his room. After Thor smashed his coffee table with his hammer Tony declared the night over and sent Thor to bed in disgrace.

Natasha was prepared to head to bed herself when she noticed how highly intoxicated her partner was and decided to help him back to his room. She helped Clint stand and swung his arm over her shoulder, dragging him into the elevator.

His movements were slow and sluggish but Natasha didn't get impatient. She opened his door and as she swung it inwards Clint nearly fell over so she grabbed him around his midsection and started to move him into his room towards his bed.

"You still can't hold your liquor орнитолог," she used her Russian nickname for him as she let him go. It meant Birdman. At first it was an insult she used against him but soon it slowly became a term of friendship. She didn't use it around other people though.

He sat on the bed and looked up at Natasha with a drunk grin on his face. "And you're still gorgeous."

Natasha rolled her eyes. This usually happened when the world famous Hawkeye had too much to drink. He would hit on anything in a three mile radius that was female. It wasn't the first time he had flirted with her. She scoffed. By now it wasn't a big deal for her.

She made a move to turn around but he grabbed her hands. "No don't leave," he moaned.

Natasha sighed but she knew she had to be patient. "Clint I have to go now," she told him. It was like talking to a three year old.

"Tasha," he mumbled.

Well that was new. Natasha hesitated for a moment. All the times he'd flirted with her when he was drunk, he had never once actually realised it was Natasha. So why was he now recognising her now? Maybe he had said her name for another reason.

"Tasha," he said her name again but louder. Still holding onto her hands Clint pulled Natasha towards him.

"Clint you're drunk," Natasha reminded him. "Get off."

He pulled her closer and reached up a hand to stroke her hair. She frowned in confusion as he twirled her red curls around his fingers. "Don't do that," he slurred. "You're pretty when you smile. You need to smile more. Stop being so grumpy."

"Ok," Natasha was starting to get suspicious. "It's time for bed."

He leaned backwards but because he was still holding onto her hands she started to fall forward. Natasha knew fully well that she could've stopped herself from falling but for some reason she didn't. She allowed herself to fall onto the bed and land directly on top of Clint. She also could've moved at that point, but she didn't.

Her face was inches from his and their noses were nearly pressed together. She could nearly hear her own heart thudding like crazy in her chest. She froze, the only thing keeping her upright was her own arms. Clint looked up at her and she froze where she lay on top of him.

"So beautiful," he mumbled tucking a strand of Natasha's hair behind her ear and stroking her face.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out so she slammed her mouth shut again. Clint continued to stroke her face but let his hand drop after a few seconds. Then he did the unthinkable. He put a hand on Natasha's back and pulled her down right on top of him. She wanted to fight it, but there was a tiny part of her brain that wanted him closer, and that part of her brain controlled her body. She moved her face to the side and felt his breath crawl up her cheek and ruffle her hair.

She turned to look at him and saw how close he was. He smelled like alcohol but there was a lingering scent underneath that she recognised as Clint. She didn't even realise what was happening until her lips buzzed against his. Their lips barely touched, but Natasha knew what a kiss was.

Before she lost control completely Natasha finally regained control of her body. She rolled off the bed and stood up, brushing hair off her face. Clint sat up and looked her in the eye for a few seconds. Natasha hesitated, and then fled the room.

What just happened?

Why had she choked?

There had to be something wrong with her, she was The Black Widow and she was never, ever, compromised like that. Walking fast out of Clint's room and down the hallway she found her room and entered. Slinking inside quietly and carefully, she sat down on her bed and started to run possibilities through her head for what happened, talking aloud every so often. She couldn't think of any possibility that wasn't medical. But a certain AI came to her assistance.

"Agent Romanoff I believe I have formulated a possibility for what happened with you and Agent Barton," Jarvis spoke up. "I do not know much about human emotions but if I had to guess I would say that you are experiencing romantic feelings for Agent Barton."

Natasha froze again. "Thank you Jarvis," her reply was almost robotic.

Natasha Romanoff had never ever let romantic feelings get the better of her like this before. If the cause of her behaviour was romantic feeling then they were obviously strong feelings. Romance was never on Natasha's mind. But was this love? The Black Widow couldn't love Hawkeye. She just couldn't.


	6. The Hangover

**A/N: Thanks to everyone that has so far reviewed, favourited and followed this story, you guys are the best. I'm going to start a system where you will only get a new chapter when I get a review. I want to finish this story before the 7th of December though because I'll be going away on a holiday until the 18th, so please work with me here guys.**

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"What happened last night?" Clint dropped into the seat next to Natasha and she tensed. Quickly she allowed herself to look at him. He was showing no signs that he remembered last night at all, especially what he'd done towards the end of the evening.

"You got drunk," Natasha told him. She decided to play it safe and completely forget what he'd done last night. After all he had been drunk and probably didn't even realise at the time that he'd been flirting with her, granted he was a hopeless flirt. "Then I had to drag you back to your room."

He wasn't the only one that was seeing after affects. Tony was probably used to being drunk but he was still slumped in a chair and wearing sunglasses. Thor was a big guy but even he looked like he was pushing his way through a headache. Steve couldn't even get drunk so he just sat there. Even Natasha had a headache but she had dealt with worse so she just ignored it. Pepper wasn't even in the room so Natasha had every reason to suspect that she would be spending the day in bed.

"Is someone flashing a light in my eye?" Clint asked her while blinking weirdly.

"No," Natasha moved to sit on the edge of the couch and looked at her partner while shaking her head.

Clint groaned and fell sideways, lying on the couch with one of his legs swung over the edge while hiding behind Natasha's back. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Clint had one hand over his eyes.

"This has got to be one of your best hangovers yet," she commented dryly.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

Steve looked over at her and pointed to Clint. "You might want to remove him," he told her. His voice was serious and Natasha frowned in questioning. "Director Fury's coming to talk to us," he replied to her facial expression in warning.

Natasha whacked Clint on the leg and he moaned in protest. She whacked him again but harder this time. "Fury's on his way here," she hissed at him.

Clint muttered curse words and grabbed the top of the couch. He swung a leg over it and began to use his upper body strength to lift himself up. He managed to get up there and lay on top of the couch for a second before rolling off the other side and Natasha vaguely heard a thud as he hit the ground. She went to look over the couch to see if he was ok but the lift dinged signalling a new arrival.

Director Fury walked into the room and stood in the centre where everyone could see him. He looked over every single person, analysing them carefully. "Good morning," he spoke sharply, his eye narrowing. Then his focused his line of sight onto Natasha "Where's Agent Barton?"

Before she could answer a hand appeared from behind the couch. "Here sir," Clint called out.

"Get out here now," he didn't sound happy. Clint picked himself up off the floor and moved to sit next to Natasha again. Steve went to say something but the Director shot him down. "I don't want to hear it Captain Rogers. I recall saying that in your time off you were to relax and kick your feet back," he walked around the room stopping near Clint and kicking Agent Barton's feet off the coffee table. "What I don't recall is telling you that you can sit around here and get yourselves drunk."

Clint looked down at his feet sheepishly and Natasha kept her stare straight. She wasn't intimidated so easily but kept her mouth shut and decided not to speak unless spoken to. She only hoped that the others had the sense to keep their mouths shut.

She wished for the impossible.

"Well technically you never said we couldn't get drunk," Tony shrugged.

"I already know that you are an unstable alcoholic and I really don't care because frankly you are not my responsibility," Fury shot him down. "You could spend your Friday night's dancing with sock puppets in a pink bunny suit and I still wouldn't give a damn. You two on the other hand."

He pointed to Barton and Romanoff. "I could've sent you off to South Africa to spend your time off in a smelting plant. Instead I let you cool down here in a fancy tower. Now if you jokers decide to pull something stupid like this again I will not hesitate to ship your ass off to Jamaica for some quality time together in a damn caravan where you can think about how stupid you were!"

"Sir we didn't think that we would be given a mission any time soon or that you would be paying us a visit," Natasha spoke coolly.

"Still I expect better," Fury returned to the centre of the room where they could all see him.

"If I might ask, why are you here Fury?" Dr Banner asked.

"I'm here to brief you all about a new situation that has come to the attention of SHIELD," he put a circular device at the centre of the coffee table and pressed the centre of it. It lit up blue and displayed a holographic image. The picture was grainy and clearly taken from surveillance footage, but Natasha still recognised the person displayed in the image.

It was Phoenix.

"Romanoff and Barton have already had dealings with this girl but I thought I should inform the rest of you of her existence," he tapped the hologram device twice and the picture displayed before them became a video. Phoenix glanced around before walking off towards the right of the camera. The clip only lasted a few seconds.

"She is known only by the alias of Phoenix. She might look harmless but trust me, the girl is far from it," Fury told them grimly. "She is the product of an illegal experiment conducted by a scientist known as Dr Harold Blake. It has been confirmed that this girl has the ability to control and manipulate fire, as well as being very fast, very strong and extremely intelligent. Not to mention very hostile. This in turn makes her a big threat. She has already killed two men and there is a likely chance she will kill again."

He tapped the holographic device once and it switched off. He stashed it into his pocket and stood up. "We have limited knowledge about her but what we do know has been compiled into a profile and that profile has already been uploaded onto the Stark private database so all of you can access it."

"Sir," Steve stood up and stopped the Director before he could leave. "What exactly do you want us to do about this girl?"

"Find her," he pointed his gaze at Natasha. "And when you do find her, she must be neutralised."

It wasn't hard to find a computer in Stark Tower. Within seconds of walking into one of the first science labs she saw she managed to spot a working computer. Natasha pulled up a chair and sat down, logging in and opening a browser folder. She found the secure database and typed Phoenix into the search box. It was one of the first things that jumped out at her on the screen.

She clicked open the folder and was about to beginning reading when there was a crash from behind her. She turned and saw that Clint had been playing with a microscope and had dropped it onto the ground, snapping the lens in half. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

He pointed at her. "Don't judge me, I still can't see straight."

"Whatever," she sighed and then spun back around in her chair to look at the screen once again.

"Anything interesting?" he leaned over her shoulder to get a look at the screen.

"I'm looking up Phoenix's profile," she told him. "There are some pictures lifted from security cameras as well."

Clint pulled a chair over and sat down next to her. Natasha opened the profile and both of the assassins began to read it.

It started off with the basic background information about Phoenix and detailed how she was found by Agent Barton and Romanoff, it provided a link to a separate report that detailed how she had been discovered but since Natasha was the one that had written it in the first place she didn't think it necessary to read it all over again.

Next it gave notes about what they knew about Doctor Blake and his experiments. This section was not very detailed and basically all it said was that Phoenix is the result of an experiment performed by Doctor Blake. So there was no new information there.

The next part labelled what SHIELD knew about her and what she was capable of. It described what they could guess of her physical and metal capabilities. There was an entire paragraph that documented her ability control fire, which didn't surprise Natasha.

There was also a reference to Chinese street performer with natural pyrokinetic ability. Apparently a SHIELD team had tried to save him from a group that had connections to something called Centipede. This section wasn't detailed much either so Natasha just guessed it was a quick reference.

Then right at the bottom of the page in big bold letters was a single sentence.

**Incredibly High Risk Hostile: Threat level 10**

"Threat level 10!" Clint repeated loudly. "That's the highest threat level assessment SHIELD has. I haven't seen a level ten on a profile since yours." He pointed at Natasha who focused her stoic stare onto the computer screen with laser focus.

"This isn't right," Natasha began to put things together. "This isn't a complete profile. There are too many missing pieces for them to be able to give her a risk assessment, let alone a level ten. They need more information than they have. It's suspicious."

"Do you think SHIELD knows more about Phoenix than they're letting on?" Clint frowned.

"Maybe," Natasha bit her lip in thought. "SHIELD works to a very strict level of secrecy. It's not surprising for them to keep things out of our reach. We're not even level 7 yet."

"It's weird when a secret has its own secrets," Clint nodded and Natasha gave him a weird look. "Remind me again what Tony put in my drink last night?"

"Alcohol, alcohol, vodka, schnapps and more alcohol," Natasha replied hotly.

Clint could tell that she was annoyed with him now so he managed to find some common sense. "So uh, what are you planning to do about Phoenix?"

"SHIELD has a lot of surveillance photos of her so I'm assuming that means they have a lot of surveillance footage," she looked over at him. "Tomorrow we need to head into SHIELD and look at this footage ourselves. We need to track her and see what she's up to."

"Why did I know you were going to say that?" Clint sighed.


	7. The Surveillance

**A/N: Ok, so I know I said that I wouldn't be uploading until I got another review but it was just too tempting. This one's a long one and I hope you like it. Please read and review and I might consider uploading chapter 8.**

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Natasha and Clint walked into SHIELD's temporary Headquarters side by side. After the battle of New York the Hellicarrier had to undergo some serious repair work, until the repairs were finished SHIELD was spending most of its time in one of the secondary buildings located in New York near Times Square.

There was a large fancy foyer with a high ceiling and marble floors. There was a desk on the left and hallways on the left and right along with various lifts and staircases. Agents in uniform walked around and several of them watched as the two very famous Agents moved in the direction of one of the lifts.

They went up several levels before the lift stopped and then got out and headed for the surveillance room Natasha had booked. Even in SHIELD the Agents have to book to use certain rooms. It was really strange but Natasha understood the system so she didn't really care.

Inside the surveillance room there were large monitors set into the wall. At the desk there was a control panel with a touch screen in the centre used to search the databank. Natasha sat down with Clint next to her and switched on the monitor.

Instantly the screens jumped to life with all different scenes from live footage. Natasha loaded the touch screen and brought up all the different footage of Phoenix. Screen 1 in the top left corner showed footage from San Francisco California the day Phoenix had escaped from the island. There was also footage from Los Angeles, Houston and Jacksonville.

"She's hit California, Texas and Florida," Natasha announced as she checked all the time stamps. "This kid's all over the place."

"All the cities that she's hit are highly populated so maybe she's thinking it will be harder for us to find her," Clint suggested. Thankfully he was no longer drunk or hung over which meant he could focus and wasn't partially brain dead. "But it's nearly impossible to tell with her because she's so unpredictable."

"Hmm," Natasha agreed. "Clint I need you to look up any suspicious activity that occurred in all of these cities on the days Phoenix was there. To narrow down the field cross correspond with the specific areas of the city where she was spotted."

"Am I looking for something in particular or do I just look for weird fires?" He asked taking the tablet off his partner and turning it on.

"Anything that jumps out at you," she turned back to the screens. "Leave San Francisco out of the search box though. Just humour me I'm working on a hunch."

"Ok then," Clint knew better than to argue with Natasha when she had an idea. It still didn't stop him from asking questions though. "What's your hunch?"

"Phoenix probably just landed in San Francisco and wasn't even planning to dock there. A chance arrival," Natasha explained animatedly. "But we know that she went to LA, Houston and Jacksonville for a reason. What we need to figure out is her reason for going there. That will get us closer to tracking her down."

Clint nodded and got to work while Natasha closely studied each frame from each security tape. They were mostly images from public places, like train stations and main streets. Natasha figured out that was how she was travelling. By train. Simple and efficient but easily traceable. It was kind of risky putting herself on the line like that, Natasha thought. She believed Phoenix was smarter than that. Unless she was doing it on purpose.

Natasha warily glanced over at Clint who was focusing all of his attention onto the tablet. She bit her lip and looked back to the screen. What Jarvis had said the other night, was it true? Did she have romantic feelings for Clint? But why would she fall for Clint? Why now? They've been partners for years. You don't just get romantic with someone all of a sudden, it doesn't work like that.

New York creeped into her mind without warning. She was desperate to get Clint back after she heard that he was taken by Loki and she didn't exactly handle things well. For a second, while she interrogated Loki, she had been exposed. It almost felt like she had stood naked in front of him. She had been compromised.

"_Love is for children I owe him a debt."_

She thought she'd been saying the truth but she knew that she'd lost her focus at that point. She had started blinking rapidly, because she knew that Loki was getting under her skin. In the end she had proven triumphant but he had gotten to her, and not many people could do that.

She wiped the thoughts from her mind and focused closer on the mission at hand. Natasha had to find Phoenix and fix the problem she had caused because of her idiocy.

"Hey Natasha I don't know if this is relevant but here's a pattern connecting the cities," Clint held up the tablet for her to see. "The day Phoenix was in LA a teenager went missing two streets away from where Phoenix was spotted. Houston Texas, another teenager is snatched from the very same train station Phoenix was in for three hours. And just yesterday a teenager from Jacksonville Florida is stolen out of her house by a gunman on the very same street that Phoenix was seen sitting at a bus station with binoculars. Coincidence?"

"Can't be. If it is, it's the biggest coincidence I've ever seen," Natasha decided. "Who were the kids?"

"Joshua Smith, Samuel Lidsdale and Isabella Mason. All 16 but aside from their age nothing else connects them," Clint handed the tablet to her and she began to search their records.

"There's not much here," Natasha concluded. "I doubt we'll be able to find a connection here. We need a new angle. Here take the stick."

She moved so Clint could sit down at the monitors and Natasha moved into the chair next to him and began to research a different file. Looking over the profile SHIELD had complied about Dr Blake she noticed that it was much more detailed than the one they created about Phoenix. It showed all of the achievements he'd received throughout his life.

"Our good old friend Doctor Blake actually has a medical degree and a science degree," Natasha read out from the file. "Born in 1955. He became a surgeon in 1984 and worked as a surgeon until 1990. Then he took up science and retreated to his family mansion on a private island."

"And pulled a freaking mad scientist act," Clint laughed at his own joke.

"Whoa wait a sec," Natasha found some more information further down the page. "In 2003 he briefly re-joined the medical profession for a period of six months. During this time he worked as a volunteer paediatrician. Paediatrician, Clint that's a children's doctor. How old would these kids have been in 2003?"

"About six," Clint replied.

"Alright the first kid was Joshua Smith," Natasha opened up his medical records and looked through them. "Treated for a broken arm in 2003, and have a guess who his doctor was."

"It wasn't," Clint shook his head.

"It was. Supervising Doctor was none other than Harold Blake," Natasha turned back to the tablet and pulled up the medical records of the next kid. "Samuel Lidsdale, went to the local Doctor's office for a bad case of eczema. Treated by Doctor Harold Blake."

"This is getting weird," Clint commented.

"Isabella Mason. Received a flu vaccination in 2003. Doctor that stuck the needle in was of course, Doctor Harold Blake," Natasha put down the tablet and swivelled her chair to face Clint. "Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that Phoenix isn't the only teenager out there with superpowers?"

"Ok, Phoenix is rounding up her little gang," Clint turned away from the screens. "But why? And how many other kids are there? We could be looking at something very serious here."

"It's a serious problem already Clint, we need to tell Fury about this. If we don't put a stop to this now then…" Natasha trailed off as she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. On one of the screens, in red flashing letters was one word.

LIVE.

"Clint we've got live footage," Natasha moved like lighting and pulled her chair forward to be closer to the monitor controls. "Quick, where is she?"

Clint pulled up the camera location on the control screen. "Chicago Illinois," he replied. "Millennium Park, making her way East down Randolph Street past the Harris Theatre."

They watched Phoenix walk down the street wearing a hoodie and sunglasses. She walked straight, never stopping once and walked out of the frame as she left the camera's line of sight. "Whatever you do make sure you keep tracking her. Do not lose her," Natasha told her partner firmly.

After a few minutes she jumped back onto the screen. "At the intersection of North Columbus Drive and East Wacker Drive." Clint told her. "Heading up North Columbus Drive, she's just crossing the Chicago River. And now she's off the radar again."

Yet again Phoenix moved away from the cameras and out of sight. So they waited for her to pop up again. It took longer this time and Natasha wondered if Phoenix had given them the slip. But then she appeared. She didn't even wait for Clint to announce it.

"East Grand Avenue, going under the bridge that holds North Lake Shore Drive. Still heading East," Natasha watched her closely and thought to herself out loud. "Where is she going. If she keeps going east she'll walk into the harbour. Obviously she's after something."

The cameras were more frequent now so Phoenix only ever dropped off the radar for a few seconds. She continued to head down East Grand Avenue. She came to the intersection at Park Drive and kept going straight down East Grand Avenue.

"Nowhere else to turn now. Whatever she's looking for is on Navy pier," Clint stated the obvious.

"Why is she going to an amusement park?" Natasha wondered out loud again.

They watched as Phoenix walked in and surveyed her surroundings before walking off. She made sure her hoodie and headed towards a group standing underneath the Ferris Wheel. She put a hand in one pocket of her hoodie and Natasha recognised the bulge of a gun stashed in Phoenix's jumper.

She approached one teenage boy and put an arm casually around his shoulder. She whispered something into his ear and Natasha just knew that Phoenix would be jabbing a gun into his back. Phoenix led the boy away into a building and just like that they were out of sight.

"Clint pull up facial recognition and find out who she is kidnapping," Natasha barked orders at him and then put a hand to her earpiece radio. "It's Agent Romanoff, we've spotted Phoenix at Navy Pier in Chicago Illinois. We need to hurry we might not have much time."

The reply came quick. "Copy that Agent Romanoff I'm sending out our closest Agents right now. Stay where you are and keep an eye on her."

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Agent Lawson received the call at about noon. He had just finished tailing a business man in Chicago when his S.O called and gave him the field assignment. He was to go down to Navy Pier and intercept a hostile who was seen kidnapping a teenager, and the one doing the kidnapping was a teenager as well. Agent Lawson didn't make any arguments though. Field work was field work.

He immediately got on his motorbike and headed to his assigned location. It didn't take long to get there and four agents were waiting for him outside the entrance. He was only a rookie agent so they were obviously in a hurry to take down their target if they were willing to put him on this assignment.

"Our mission is to go in there and neutralise the hostile known as Phoenix. She is female, 14 to 15 years of age. She'll be easy to spot. We would prefer if you took her down alive but if you have no other choice then take the shot," an older female agent instructed them. "We need to move quickly."

They didn't even have time for introductions, they just jumped straight into action and made their way through the entrance and towards Phoenix's location. Agent Lawson had mixed emotions of shooting at a teenager but if SHIELD said she was a threat then it was his job as a SHIELD Agent to take her down.

The back-up arrived just as the five agents reached the Ferris Wheel. Three SHIELD helicopters came in from the distance and made a circle formation above the agents on the ground, facing the building where Phoenix was reported to be.

An announcement by a man with a megaphone told civilians to vacate the area and for Phoenix to show herself. The five agents stood in a circular formation at the only entrance and exit of the building. Agent Lawson stood on the left, holding his gun up and aiming it at the double doors.

There was movement as the doors swung open and Phoenix stepped outside. She had pulled down her hoodie and held her hands behind her head in surrender. She walked forward slowly and sunk down to her knees and kept her eyes on the ground.

The older female agent that was in charge slowly walked forward and stood behind the girl. The agent frisked her from behind a pulled a gun from the pocket of her jacket. The agent removed the magazine and tossed the gun aside. Then she grabbed Phoenix's wrists and pulled a set of handcuffs off her belt and moved to put them on Phoenix.

That's when everything exploded.

Literally.

The Ferris Wheel caught alight and became a flaming inferno in a matter of seconds. People screamed from below it on the ground and from on the carriages that spun around the Ferris Wheel. The metal stabilising the wheel to the ground creaked and groaned.

There was a loud SNAP! as the wheel titled and then began to fall. The wheel fell slowly and crashed into a building, going straight through the centre of it and sliding across the pier. It still burned as an inferno until it slid into the water with a loud splash and half of it became submerged while the top half of it was still lit up like a bonfire.

Phoenix jumped into action and threw herself on top of the agent in charge. Agent Lawson and the other three moved forward and before the woman Phoenix was pinning down could fight back, Phoenix struck.

The girl caught fire faster than anyone could blink and put a hand on the woman's chest. When Phoenix stood back up the woman had stopped moving and had a giant singed hole in her chest. Phoenix whirled around to face the other agents and Agent Lawson did what any other responsible human would've done in that situation.

He turned and ran away screaming.

While Agent Lawson dived for cover behind a chimichanga stand, the remaining three agents tried their best to take down Phoenix. However each time one of them had a shot they hesitated, and that was what brought their demise.

A dead body was thrown through the air and hit Agent Lawson across the face before collapsing in a pile of limp limbs next to him. He screamed again and clutched the handle of the umbrella on the chimichanga stand.

Phoenix heard the screams and walked around the stand, looking down at the screaming agent with confusion. He continued to scream so she grabbed his shirt and elbowed him in the face. He slumped to the ground unconscious and Phoenix heard sirens which meant that it was probably time to leave.

She just had some unfinished businesses to deal with first.

She found the boy she had come to collect and grabbed him by the back of his neck. "Remember what I told you. They are the enemy," she said to him and pointed at the circling helicopters. "Now watch the enemy burn."

She pushed him backwards and walked forward to the direct centre of the now abandoned amusement park, taking her stand directly below the helicopters. She looked up at them and a loud voice echoed around her. "Surrender and get down on the ground now or we will be forced to take you down!" They warned her.

"Not if I take you down first," she muttered to herself with a smile.

Phoenix held her arms stiff by her side and summoned the fire. She felt it's warmth circling around her arms. Slowly she raised her flame coated arms and aimed them in the direction of the helicopters. She felt it brewing at her palms and then the fire shot out from her hands and hit the first helicopter. The cockpit ignited and the entire inside of the helicopter caught alight. Phoenix preformed the same act on the other two helicopters. Each helicopter spun around and titled as their inhabitants attempted to stabilise their crafts while burning alive.

They each hit the ground like flies, one landing in the harbour and the other two crash landed in the streets, causing more screams to come from the civilians. There was no longer anyone else around but Phoenix knew it wouldn't be like that for much longer. It was time for them to move.

"I know what you can do," she said to the boy. "And we're getting out of here now. Fast."

The boy nodded in fearful understanding and bent down on his knees. Phoenix put a hand on his shoulder and they vanished in a blur.

* * *

Clint switched off the surveillance monitor with shaking fingers. Natasha sat ridged, not even blinking once. They saw everything from the Ferris wheel to the helicopters. Neither of them seemed to have any words to describe what they just witnessed.

"Find out who the boy she took was," Natasha told Clint.

The archer nodded and ran the boys image through a facial recognition system. They got a hit minutes later. "Marcus Winters," Clint checked his medical records and found what he knew he was going to see. "Admitted to hospital for appendicitis and his Doctor was Dr Blake."

"How many casualties from the attack?" Natasha's voice was quiet but firm.

"4 in each helicopter that's 12," Clint went through the maths. "Four out of five of our ground agents. Maybe twenty on the Ferris wheel. Thirty or so in the demolished building. We're looking at something around 65 fatalities and not to mention a lot of injured."

"Over 60 dead," Natasha repeated. "All in the space of 5 minutes."

"If we hadn't sent our guys in this wouldn't have happened," Clint sounded angry. "I don't care what Fury says this is our problem now and we are going to fix it. We can't let any more people die."

"I'm with you," Natasha agreed.

The only hope for stopping Phoenix now was the Avengers.


	8. The Help

**A/N: Chapter 8 is here and I hope you all enjoy it. I don't really have much more to say then please read and review.**

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"_Recapping our latest story, 33 are dead and 61 injured after an attack at Navy Pier amusement park in Chicago Illinois. The attacker in question is a young girl believed to have superhuman abilities as she was seen creating fire out of nowhere. It is unclear whether or not this girl is connected to the Avengers. More details will be released in respect to the ongoing investigation."_

Tony switched off the TV and all of the Avengers seated on the lounge turned to face Natasha and Clint. It was the day after Phoenix's attack and the death toll had thankfully been lower than anticipated. Including the 33 dead civilians there were also 16 dead SHIELD agents which bumped the number up to 49. It was still 49 too many.

"You saw the whole thing?" Steve asked after a small silence.

"We watched the security footage but SHIELD now has the official footage that we stole from a news helicopter," Natasha answered. "We got the gist of it though. People burned alive and Phoenix vanished into thin air after publicly kidnapping a teenage boy."

"Have you figured out why she's kidnapping them?" Bruce asked. "Or if she's even kidnapping them at all, because from what I've seen they're all going with her on their own free will."

"We've discovered that all of the missing children so far were all treated by the same doctor when they were six years old. It was our mad scientist friend who experimented on Phoenix in the first place," Clint scrunched up a piece of paper and tossed it across the room angrily.

"We have a theory that these children might have abilities like Phoenix," Natasha continued when Clint slumped into his chair with a scowl on his face. "We have no idea how many there are, but we do know that Phoenix will be willing to do anything to get them. That was kind of obvious from the footage."

"I read the file," Tony folded his arms. "According to SHIELD she's a Threat Level 10. But when they gave her that risk assessment the only she'd done was escape from an island where'd she's been a prisoner her whole life. True, she did kill two agents but probably because she saw them as a threat. The only thing Phoenix has done that's really worthy of a high level risk assessment was what she did yesterday."

"But they made her Threat Level 10 before she attacked the Pier," Steve started putting pieces together as well.

So Natasha and Clint weren't the only people that had noticed it either, but they had left it alone after deciding that SHIELD had their reasons. Although now that they brought up the subject again the two assassins grew more curious. Tony had always been suspicious of SHIELD so Natasha waved off the comment. She wondered though.

"I do not know much about this Phoenix," Thor, who had been strangely quiet on the matter, raised his voice. "But surely the men in the air would've been able to stop her before she harmed the innocents on the ground. It seems to me like they did nothing to attempt to capture her."

There was something else Natasha had run through her head last night. The agents in the helicopters could've fired on Phoenix whenever they wanted to but they had remained still. There was no way of knowing why, because those men were now dead.

"Did anyone actually see the whole thing first hand?" Pepper didn't like to get involved with the Avengers business too much but clearly this time curiosity got the best of her.

"There was one of our Agents," Natasha looked at Clint sideways, they communicated silently and Clint allowed her to tell them. "Agent Eric Lawson. Phoenix didn't kill him, she only knocked him out but from what I've heard he's kind of shaken up about it."

Clint scoffed and crossed his arms tight, slumping further into the couch miserably. "We call him Screamer."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone better at paperwork and he's good agent but he has this...uh…problem with confrontation when he goes out into the field," Natasha chose her words carefully, not wanting to pick at anything that might bring up too many questions.

"He runs away screaming whenever an enemy points a gun at him," Clint went for the more blunt approach.

The room went silent and Natasha sighed. The confused quiet was broken by Steve who had his eyes narrowed. "How did SHIELD not pick up on that when he was training?"

"Because it wasn't until his very first field mission that we found out," Natasha explained. "In training he was really good but clearly his subconscious was able to tell the difference between the computer generated enemies we use in the stimulations and the real enemies.

Tony snorted and put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "I'm sorry but, SHIELD, the big bad spy guys that walk around all tough and save the world, have this one guy that screams and runs away when he gets scared. That is just hilarious."

"Anyway," Natasha said sharply to indicate that it was time for a subject change. "We've got agents tracking Phoenix's movements but she seems to have dropped off the radar. When she pops up again, and she will, we need to be ready. We have no idea how many more kids there are with abilities like Phoenix or even what they can do so we need to be on high alert."

Everyone nodded unanimously and Tony put up a hand proudly. "I've already put the tower on a very strict lockdown and sent away all the girls that have been cosplaying down in front of the lobby. This tower is more secure than Area 51 right now. Nothing is getting in here without permission."

Tony stood proud but his moment was ruined by JARVIS "Is this a bad time to mention that we have a security breach sir?" the AI asked.

Pepper threw up her hands and walked out of the room and Bruce groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "More secure than Area 51 huh?" Clint asked sarcastically.

Natasha was actually the only one in the room that sprung to action and prepared for an imminent attack. She grabbed a gun that she had stashed between the couch cushions when she first arrived at the tower and ran to the lift, standing beside it and waiting slowly as it went up floor by floor.

It pinged once it reached the top floor and Natasha moved the second the doors opened and pressed her gun into the intruder's forehead. They shrieked in disgust. "Get that awful thing out of my face!" the voice sounded young and high pitched. Natasha inspected the intruder up and down.

It was a teenage girl who looked about 16 with blonde hair, blue eyes and a very pissed off expression on her face. Natasha lowered the gun slowly and the girl stormed past her with her nose pointed at the ceiling and she stood with a very superior manner in front of the Avengers huddled onto the couch.

"You know if I were going to attack this tower I wouldn't have come up in the elevator," the girl said while inspecting her manicured nails. "Honestly you call yourselves superheros?"

"Who the hell are you?" Tony wasted no words when his reputation as a genius was at stake.

"My name is Heather James," she told him like it was obvious.

"Thank you Heather but we have a serious situation on our hands at the moment," Steve tried to be as polite as possible.

"That's why I'm here stupid," she flicked hair off her face. "I know about Phoenix and Doctor Blake. So if you want to take them down then you need my help."

Natasha did not like the presence of this stuck-up snobby teenager but if she knew about Phoenix then she was an important ally. As Natasha continued to survey the girl she realised something else. This girl was 16. All the kids that had been kidnapped by Phoenix were 16. This girl was one of them.

"Alright then enlighten us," Tony spread out his arms but he still sounded annoyed that this girl had broken into his tower.

None of the others seemed to make the connection, but Natasha picked up on something in Clint's expression and realised that he knew as well. They shared eye contact for a second, but a second was all they needed. Clint nodded and Natasha mirrored the almost unnoticeable act.

"So Doctor Blake experimented on you as well?" Natasha turned to the teenager, needing conformation on the matter.

Heather nodded and for a minute her stuck-up appearance faltered and she shifted uncomfortably where she stood. "There are six of us altogether including Phoenix," Heather explained, her voice full of misery. Natasha did some quick maths and figured out that, (excluding Heather), Phoenix had already rounded up all of the other kids.

"What is it you can do?" Steve took over the questioning while Natasha sat back and observed.

"For each of us it's something different. You've already seen Phoenix's power and I can do this."

Heather looked like she hated herself for doing it, but the teenage girl raised her hands and held them in front of her. Almost immediately every small intimate object in the room began to levitate and float in the air. A pen floated in front of Natasha's face and Clint tapped on a mug as it drifted through the air past him.

Natasha had no words for the situation which was a first. The other Avengers each mirrored the Black Widow's reaction almost identically. This kind of thing was unheard of. Such an ability had never ever been seen before and Natasha looked back to Heather, knowing that there was more to it than she was letting on.

Heather saw the assassin's hard gaze and lowered her hands. The floating objects slowly dropped back into their original places and Heather bit her lip as if to stop herself from crying. "That's not all," her voice sounded strangled as she fought hard not to cry. "I'm a freak. Ever since I was a little girl I've known things. I can read minds and connect to people. There's something wrong with me. I don't want to be like this and I don't want to get into other people's heads, but I can't shut it off."

Natasha froze where she sat. This girl claimed to be able to read minds. Not only was that unheard off but it was physically impossible by the laws of physics and science. Many people have tried and failed to hack into the power of telepathy and each time the experiment has ended in disaster. It was simply impossible for this girl to read minds.

"Prove it," Tony sounded unimpressed. "If you claim to read minds then show us."

Heather scrunched up her eyes and bit her lip hard. "No I won't," she sounded determined to have her way but they all knew that Tony would not let it go.

"Ok then what am I thinking?" Tony asked.

Heather's reaction was instantaneous. She snapped and all of a sudden got angry and defensive. "What you want to think right now and what you expect me to say is, 'Tony Stark is a genius'. But really underneath that you are thinking about your father. Did he really say those things to you when you were that young? Then you only discovered that he really loved you after he died. That's a very sad story, almost like something out of a storybook tragedy. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Tony's eyes went wide and Natasha glanced at Clint. This teenage girl had officially broken the laws of basic science.

Bruce stepped in before anything on that particular topic could get too disastrous. "How do you know about the other children if you've never met them?"

"Our minds are linked together," Heather calmed down and began to explain. "We know each other's names and we're just somehow connected. I don't know why, maybe it helps us perform together as a group or something, but it's not very pleasant. Also, sometimes strong emotions are sent across the link."

"What can you tell us about Phoenix?" Steve asked and everyone sat up straight, this was the topic they all wanted to know about.

Heather looked like she was going to change her mind, but she decided to tell them anyway. "Phoenix was the first. After he was successful with her the Doctor went all around the states and selected the best children to inject. Phoenix however was injected when she was 5, unlike the rest of us that were injected then we were 6. This makes Phoenix 15, a year younger than the rest of us. In concern to the link Phoenix has always felt superior to the rest of us, like she stands one level higher. Basically Phoenix is more or less the one with the authority."

Natasha could sense some unspoken words behind Heather's explanation. The assassin leaned forward and looked her in the eye. "Why are you so scared of her?" Natasha recognised the girl's tone of voice and the look behind her eyes when she talked about Phoenix. It was terror.

Heather took and deep breath and glanced around quickly before talking. "Phoenix is broken. She's twisted, not right, gone in the head, whatever synonym for crazy you want to use will describe her. Whatever's wrong with Phoenix is very severe. He did something to her, I don't know what, but sometimes in the middle of the night I would wake up screaming because of the pain I felt through the link. Phoenix is nothing but an empty shell driven by rage and desperation. You can't reason with her and you can't control her. I don't think she has a single inch of humanity left. I've never even met her but I know that she is dangerous. She can't be saved."

Natasha felt her body tense and her knuckles go tight as she clenched her fists. The answer to why she had tried to help Phoenix in the basement came to her. She saw herself in Phoenix, a girl who had been stolen as a child and tortured and brainwashed as nothing but someone's pawn. Through the silence that came after Heather's chilling speech, Natasha debated on Phoenix and what could be done about her. The answer was obvious.

Natasha was going to help her.

"You don't know that for sure," Natasha said firmly looking up at Heather.

"And you can't prove me wrong," Heather flared her nostrils and pulled an iPhone with a pink case out of her pocket. She saw Steve and Thor look at the piece of the technology curiously and Clint for some reason, glared at the two of them. After putting the phone back in her pocket Heather looked at them all again.

"By now Phoenix should've reached Philadelphia and realised that I've run from her so she'll be moving off elsewhere. I'm leaving now and you are never going to see me again," Heather declared. "If you even think about dragging me back into this freak show then you can be certain that I will not come willingly. So goodbye."

"Wait!" Tony called after her as she began walking towards the lifts. "How did you get into my tower?"

"It wasn't just superpowers that we got once we were injected," Heather turned back around to face the group again. "Our very biology warped and twisted and our brains refigured themselves. With my enhanced brain I can list 3,000 digits of pi off the top of my head. Breaking into a supposedly secure tower is easy for me."

Heather turned back around and pressed a button on the lift, but she continued to talk even with her back to them. "Phoenix is devoted to the Doctor. She follows his every word like he's a god, and I know fully well that the Doctor has some big issues when it comes to SHIELD. So if he hates you guys then you can be certain that Phoenix will hate you to. They want to see you destroyed."

With that she stepped into the lift and the doors closed, signalling the exit of Heather James. All of the Avengers glanced around the room at each other. They had a hard time finding a starting sentence for the conversation they knew they couldn't avoid.

"Why is it all our main enemies have sanity issues?" Tony of course was the one to officially open conversation with a supposedly funny comment. "Do we just attract the crazy people?"

"Phoenix is obviously planning something," Steve quickly took over. "Clearly she has something against SHIELD. The way she reacted when our guys intercepted her on the pier, obviously she's got some kind of a grudge. We need to figure out what her next move is going to be."

"You heard what Heather said about Phoenix. She and Doctor Blake want to see SHIELD destroyed," Bruce took his glasses off and rubbed his forehead. "I can only assume that SHIELD is one of her main targets. You should probably tighten your security measures Agents," he looked at both Natasha and Clint. "Because she's coming, and you have something she wants."


	9. The Break

**A/N:** **Here I am again with chapter 9. I hope you all enjoy it but just before you start reading, a quick warning. To certain people this chapter may seem a bit dark and or violent. The whole chapter is told from Phoenix's point of view so that should give you a clear idea of what to expect. As always, read, review and have fun.**

* * *

"Damn it she talked!" Phoenix exclaimed, forgetting for a second that she was supposed to be whispering to avoid getting caught. She ducked back behind the reception desk and put her binoculars on the ground near her feet. Next to her were the other four teenagers. Mark, Bella, Josh and Sam.

SHIELD looked like any ordinary building but Phoenix and the others knew that what was in that building was far from ordinary. Their stakeout location was in a spa was across the road from SHIELD where they could monitor it. It was the middle of the night, best time of the day to perform an attack.

The security measures placed on the SHEILD building had clearly been doubled. There were men at the doors and Phoenix could just picture the laser defence mechanisms on every floor. That was going to make things a lot harder, but not impossible.

"Who talked?" Josh asked. "Heather?"

"She must've gone to the Avengers this morning. We couldn't find her in Pennsylvania because she came here," Phoenix clicked her fingers, igniting and then dousing a small flame between her fingers as she clicked. "That's why the link felt weird. She betrayed us."

Bella peered over the top of the desk at the building across from them and ducked back down. "It looks bad. Maybe we shouldn't attack tonight. They're obviously expecting us." She looked to Phoenix desperately, begging her silently to reconsider. Phoenix didn't even notice.

"Well then let's not disappoint them," Phoenix spat. "We've still got some tricks up our sleeves that they won't be expecting. We're attacking tonight and we're not backing down. You all know the plan. Get in there, find the Doctor, and get out. Don't wait up for me."

Phoenix missed the exchange between the other teenagers as they glanced around at each other sharing the same look of despair. None of them wanted to be there. Phoenix entering their lives had confirmed their worst fears about themselves.

They were freaks.

Phoenix stood up and looked over at the building across the street, narrowing her eyes as if trying to make a decision. "Alright let's do this now. Sam, take out their security. Everyone else slowly move to the door," Phoenix commanded them, ducking low and moving to the edge of the desk where she could make a quick getaway.

Sam closed his eyes and focused hard. Eventually his eyelids shot open and he gasped, as if he had just preformed an exhausting physical task. The lights were still on in the building but Phoenix knew that Sam had succeeded. She waved her hand at the other teenagers as a signal for them to move.

They crouched low as they walked fast past the glass doors and to the wall where they could be out of sight. There was a doorway on their right that led out into an alleyway. They ducked their heads low as they filed towards it in a single line with Phoenix leading them. They had already kicked the door open when they first entered so all Phoenix needed to do was lightly tap it and it swung outward, hitting them all in the face with a gust of cold night air and the sounds of New York.

"We need to be quick, it's only a matter of time before they find out their security systems are offline," Phoenix peered around the corner of the alleyway at the SHIELD building that dangerously loomed over them. The sight of it shook them all to their core, except for Phoenix of course. She only focused on the mission.

She grabbed Mark and Josh by their coats and dragged them forward, hissing orders in their ears. The boys nodded stiffly, almost shaking with fear, and then Josh's whole appearance seemed to fade until he vanished, and Mark blurred off towards the SHIELD building. Phoenix held up a hand to Bella and Sam, signally for them to wait. Then she sharply moved her hand and motioned to the building, signalling them to attack.

They ran across the street and to the side of the building. Phoenix reached into her boot and pulled out a small silver gadget in the shape of a square. She aimed it at one of SHIELD's windows and pressed the centre. A wire shot out from it and attached itself firmly to a ledge, Phoenix extended the device by pulling out the sides, forming a handle.

"Mark and Josh should be in position," Phoenix gripped the handle on the device. "When you see my signal, enter the building. I'll draw them away from you and up to the top floors. Dr Blake is being held in an interview room on the second floor. Be careful and watch your backs."

With that, Phoenix tugged sharply on the device and it hoisted her into the air, running the wire back into the device. Wind blew her hair back off her face and glided up her cheeks. She finally came to a halt when the wire ran out and she was at the ledge. Quickly she lifted herself up and kicked open the window. Things were always so much easier when the automatic locks were shut down.

Now safely inside the building she detached the device from the ledge and pushed the handles back into the sides, returning the gadget to its former square shape and slipping it back into her pocket. Feeling satisfied she looked out the window and down at the street below. With her sharp eyesight she could make out the shapes of Bella and Sam waiting patiently.

It was time.

Phoenix turned her head and looked up at the top of the building. She smirked. Then the familiar sound of a weapon being cocked was picked up by her hearing and she turned to face five agents all standing with their weapons at the ready and watching her. She noticed that the room she had found herself in was a basic scientific laboratory that hadn't been used in a while.

And on the bench in front of her she saw the perfect opportunity.

"Get down on the ground now!" one of the agents barked at her. It was a man's voice but she had no time to pay attention to him.

Mark might've been the one that had super speed, but Phoenix could still move pretty damn fast. She sprinted forward and using two hands, propelled herself over the work bench, driving her feet into one of the agent's chests and jumping to the side as he fell. Picking up his dropped gun, she hit another agent over the face with it and elbowed another in the gut.

They didn't seem to be fighting back, which really pissed Phoenix off.

Time was being wasted though. Phoenix had to finish them quickly if she wanted the plan to advance. After tossing one across the room the agents all reconvened across the bench from her now on the window side while Phoenix stood with her back to the door. Not a good move, but a good position to be in for her idea to work.

She moved quickly, turning all of the gas taps on the work bench up to full, filling the room with the noxious smell of gasoline. The agents seemed to realise what was going on and moved to try and turn them off but Phoenix beat them to the punch. She stood in front of the door and held out her palm, blowing the flame towards them.

The explosion could be heard from two street blocks away. The glass on the window exploded outwards and a giant flame erupted from the broken window and into the night air, spreading chaos and panic as people saw the giant plume of fire against the black backdrop of the sky. Seeing the signal, Bella and Sam made for the building.

Phoenix walked casually out of the room as if nothing had happened, the flames slowly fading as they twirled and moved gracefully across her body. The hallway was a blackened mess but it was nothing compared to the carnage inside the laboratory. She just knew that after that noise, the SHIELD boys and girls would come running.

It was fun to watch them run and beg for mercy, but she still had a job to do and if she failed the Doctor then she had no point in life. She just had to get to the basement, but first she had to be sure that the Doctor was clear of the building. Her strike force did have an advantage but they were still incompetent and unwilling. Phoenix didn't like having to rely on them for anything.

It didn't take long for more agents to arrive. Each of them were armed with all sort of weapons they could've used to attack her, but not one even tried. Some even threw guns to the side and took up defensive positions as Phoenix approached. Nothing could've possibly made her angrier.

Did they perceive her as _weak_?

Did they think that she was _harmless_?

They were all wrong. All of them. She would teach them what happens when you underestimate Phoenix. They will pay. All of them. Not one member of SHIELD has the right to back away from her challenge, simply because they think her innocent. Not one of them would step up and fight her. Not one. They thought she was nothing. She was not.

She showed them.

All of them.

Phoenix walked over the top of another lifeless body. The walls were splashed with blood and there was a vaguely ominous sense of doom that surrounded the scene. There was no space left to walk on the ground because the entire hallway was littered with the dead and unconscious bodies of all the agents that had dared think she was not a worthy enemy. They did not even bother to fight her.

So she did not bother to show mercy.

Alarms began to ring all around her as the lockdown was initiated, sealing off each level of the SHIELD building. Phoenix smirked. That was the signal that they had successfully gotten the Doctor out of the building. But with the lockdown initiated it would be difficult for Phoenix to get down to the basement.

There was one way though.

She approached the lift door and looked the steel up and down carefully. With the lockdown they would be enforced shut with extra clamps, but metal could burn. Phoenix began with her hand at the top of the lift doors, burning it and slowly tracing her hands downwards as she did. It was only a small flame, but it burned strong.

Within a minute the metal began to creak and weaken under the influence of the fire. After growing impatient, Phoenix stopped burning it sooner than she should've and tried to open the lift with brute strength. Clasping a hand on each side of the doors, she strained to pull them apart.

Eventually a gap formed and Phoenix stuck her right hand through and pressed her shoulder against the gap, putting a foot against the left side of the door. With a sudden burst of strength, the lift opened wide enough for Phoenix to get inside. Muscles straining, she squeezed through the gap.

It was near pitch black inside the shaft and the minute she entered Phoenix discovered that she had no room to move and if she took one step forward she would reach the bottom floor at lot faster and harder than anticipated. The maintenance ladder was across the shaft from her and if she wanted to reach it she would need to jump at least six feet.

Simple really.

With a hand on the lift doors Phoenix pressed herself up against it and tensed her legs, crouching down slightly so she could achieve better propulsion. A run up would've been best, but Phoenix didn't need it. Her heart rate began to beat faster, but only slightly. She inhaled a deep breath and focused on the ladder.

As she exhaled she launched her body forward, letting go of the doors quickly. She felt her body hit steel and jammed her foot into the rungs to stop herself from falling. Quickly she clutched the handles as she nearly tipped backwards. Pressing her face against the rusty metal, she smirked.

Now she had footing, she could get down. With a downwards glance Phoenix noticed that it would be a long climb before she reached the bottom, and she was on a time sensitive mission. It was imperative that she reach the basement and complete the mission before they managed to override the lockdown.

With another self-respectful smirk, she let go of the ladder and fell backwards.

The feeling of falling is both exciting and terrifying. Most people are afraid of when they hit the bottom, and while they fall there is nothing to keep them from stopping. The rush of adrenaline and the wind rushing up her cheeks and blowing her hair behind her gave Phoenix a brief feeling of euphoria. She wasn't afraid of falling, she was barely afraid of anything.

Quickly she removed the small long and thin cylindrical object from her pocket. She pressed the bottom and a small parachute billowed from the top suddenly, slowing her fall. The parachute was only roughly five feet in diameter, meant for small spaces. It did the job fine though and landed on top of the lift itself. In an event of a lockdown, it would always go straight to the bottom floor.

Surprisingly the hatch was easy to pry open and that's when Phoenix realised that the lockdown had just been overridden. Moving much faster, she lowered herself into the lift and opened the doors with ease. The lockdown was defienetly over because she couldn't hear any more alarms.

Heart rate rising quickly, Phoenix sped down through the basement in search of the place that Doctor Blake had instructed she go to if he was ever taken in by SHIELD. It was all a part of the master plan. She was determined to complete her mission, so with no time for detours, she ran in the right direction with her feet hitting the ground like clockwork.

She discovered the mainframe and got to work, searching through for the file. It was encrypted but the Doctor would know how to break into it. Once all the information was downloaded onto the small memory card Phoenix yanked it from the mainframe computer just as she heard footsteps and shouting in the distance.

Finally they had found her.

Quickly she ripped out her false tooth and shoved the memory card inside. She tasted the awful metallic flavour of blood spurting from the back of her mouth as she had just yanked out what was supposed to be her back molar. With the memory card inserted she spat blood out of her mouth and pushed the false tooth into place, effectively hiding the card. Now it was time for the second important step of her mission and that required her to wait patiently.

Blood continued to drip from her mouth as she stood there. As the twenty or so fully equipped Agents rounded the corner and came face to face with her they raised their military grade assault rifles. Finally they decided to point their weapons at her. It only took a hallway full of dead bodies.

Her lips stained with her own blood, Phoenix grinned at them, flashing red dipped teeth. Slowly she put her hands behind her head and got down to her knees. They paused for a second, and then one walked forward and handcuffed her. Another got down, directly in front of her face and began to explain her rights.

Rules and regulations of course but as the second agent finished talking, she spat blood into his face and laughed as they pulled her up and began to drag her away.

Now the rest of the plan rested on Phoenix.

If only they knew how naïve they were being.

SHIELD was going to burn.


	10. The Interrogation

"Get up!" a sharp female voice pulled Steve from his sleep. Slowly he sat up in bed and his sights fell onto a woman that was standing at his door turning the lights on and off. "Get out of bed. We need to go. Come on hurry up." He finally recognised the voice once his mind began to work properly.

"Natasha!" he exclaimed, sitting up and pulling the covers up to his chin.

She stopped flicking the light switch and leaned against the doorframe, looking at him in amusement. Clearly she found his reaction, to a woman being in his room uninvited while he lay in bed, funny. Without warning he got pelted in the face with a white shirt as Natasha threw the piece of clothing at him unexpectedly.

"Get dressed," she didn't seem so amused now and moved into serious mode. "Fury's called us in. We need to be at SHIELD in 15 minutes."

"Ok," he took in the information and nodded. "Let me just put some clothes on and I'll be with you in a minute. Could you please close the door?"

As he kicked back his covers and got out of bed Steve watched Natasha close the door. She however still stood in his room watching him expectantly with her arms folded. He watched her for a minute before he realised that she wasn't going to budge.

"Um, are you just going to stand there?" he asked her.

Natasha cocked her head to the side and smirked. "Shy." She spoke like she was stating a fact rather than asking a question.

Steve knew from his personal experience in the training room with Natasha that there was no hope of winning an argument with her or convincing her to change her mind about any decision she made. She was a stubborn woman and strong-willed. He liked that though, she kind of reminded him of Peggy in an odd way.

"I'm not exactly comfortable taking off all my clothes in front of a woman," Steve admitted as he picked up a pair of pants.

"Do you want me to look the other way?" Natasha asked sarcastically.

He knew he wasn't going to be winning any battles with her today, so he grudgingly began to get dressed in front of her. It ended up being him that faced the other way because he would only get embarrassed of he saw Natasha watching him. Somehow he could just tell she was trying not to make any sly comments.

Once he was done Natasha walked out of the room, clearly she wanted Steve to follow her and he caught up to her quick enough. She walked inside the lift and pressed the button for the garage. "You got a car?" Steve asked. "I don't think you'd be comfortable on my bike."

Natasha gave him an annoyed look and he immediately began to quietly freak out because obviously he'd said something wrong without realising it again. "I can handle myself on a motorbike quite well thank you very much and no, I don't have a car with me at the moment. But," she fished something out of her pocket and held up the object for Steve to see. "I do know where Tony hides his keys."

* * *

Silence enclosed around her as she sat through the impenetrable mental darkness that engulfed her vision. She liked the darkness though, in the metaphoric and literally sense, it was the only thing that had always been there for her. Darkness was her friend, darkness kept her safe. The only thing she believed in more was her Master.

It was time for the darkness to end when a voice called her out. She opened her eyes and her vision went fuzzy, before clearing as her pupil's adjusted their size to the amount of light in the room. There was a man in uniform, saying something to her. She didn't pay much notice to him. An irritating disruption to her silence was all he resembled.

It was time for some fun though, and his timing was near perfect to her desires.

He advanced on her, holding some form of clear liquid in a small syringe. It was easy for her to recognise the sedative fluid swirling around in the needle. So their great big plan was to drug her, how impressively dim-witted. Honestly the only reason these people ever achieve anything is because of an odd combination of bad luck and enemies with typical, easy to manipulate, weaknesses.

The man came closer and she moved, to test his reaction. As expected he hesitated before continuing to advance. No doubt, they knew all about her antics. Only now were they learning not to underestimate her. They were kills too late, but at least they finally warped their simple minds around the concept.

The tip of needle was about ten inches from her skin and she could tell the man that was supposed to deliver the shot was growing nervous. His hands shook and he moved slowly. She kept her eyes straight until she noticed that he leaned in further and the needle was much closer to her skin.

So he was going to do it after all. How remarkable that a jellyfish could grow a spine. Practically a miracle, but she would have to make it short lived.

Just as he was about to touch the syringe to her skin she turned her head sharply and snapped her teeth at him like a dog threatening to bite. The man threw the needle to the side and jumped backwards, crawling and dragging his miserable worthless hide to the door.

Phoenix laughed.

* * *

"Before you go in there we need to brief you," Fury stood in front of Natasha and Steve as they sat at the table. It was a basic SHIELD meeting room with no windows and a dark interior. The table was made of glass and Natasha rapped on it impatiently with her knuckles. She wanted to get in there and talk to Phoenix.

"We captured Phoenix last night as she broke in through one of our top floors and slaughtered 36 men and women. Counting the two agents she killed on the island and the 49 at Navy Pier, Phoenix has so far killed 87 people in the space of six days. Not exactly as impressive as some of our previous counterparts but I'd say it's still pretty damn bad," Fury put his hands on the table and looked Natasha directly in the eye. "I'm taking my previously assigned team off the case. Phoenix is your responsibility now."

Triumph flooded through Natasha. Finally she had her chance.

"Sir why exactly am I here?" Steve asked. "I would've thought Agent Barton would be a better person to bring in on this."

Fury took note of Captain America's comment and sat down at the table. The pictures he placed in front of Natasha were easily recognisable. They were pages from Doctor Blake's log book that she had taken from his mansion. It had been immediately snatched from her by forensics when she brought it back to SHIELD. She was wondering how long it would take them to document it.

"The people originally following this case were asked to research this log book. The scientific team, Fitz-Simmons, discovered some rather interesting things while reading it," he placed a word document in front the two agents. "Doctor Blake basically uses this book to document his experiments. There are no scientific formulas in here or anything pertaining to how he managed to create his own super soldier serum."

At the words super soldier serum Steve and Natasha's heads both snapped up. Now it was all starting to make sense to her. Natasha remembered word for word what she read at the start of the log book when she first discovered it. He had been talking about unlocking superficial abilities through treatment. He had also said beyond what they could comprehend fifty years ago. Obviously he was talking about Steve and the Strategic Scientific Reserve. By the laws of basic addition he had begun his experiments twenty years ago, fifty years after Steve had supposedly died.

But why children?

"Captain Rogers you were brought in because you have had firsthand experience with Dr Abraham Erskine's original formula," Fury then directed his attention to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, since you are showing that it is in your best interests to be involved with this you will be heading this investigation."

Natasha nodded in understanding and Steve followed suite.

"If anyone can interrogate Phoenix it's you two," Fury nodded and dismissed them. With her hand already on the door, Fury called the Natasha's attention back to him. "If you can't get anything from here than her fate will be left to the Council. So I would advise you to make sure you use whatever means necessary to make her talk. Or otherwise her future will not be a pleasant one."

* * *

It wasn't exactly normal for prisoners of SHIELD to sit cross legged on top of a silver table. Phoenix was quiet pleased with herself though because she had gotten up there with her hands cuffed behind her back. Thankfully they had at least been smart enough to give her heat proof handcuffs. The door and walls were most likely fire resistant as well. They were beginning to learn.

Phoenix turned her head to the right and looked at the mirror, staring past her own reflection to the SHIELD agents hiding behind the façade. After a minute of staring she turned back to facing the wall, she focused on her breathing while her thoughts turned themselves over in her head. She didn't want to plot ahead too far so instead she focused on the basics. How was she going to get that precious reaction out of whomever they sent in to perform the interrogation? Find the weak spot and exploit it that was how it worked.

The lock on the door clicked and Phoenix slowly turned to face it. Who would be her interrogator? She so desperately wanted it to be Fury, the great leader of SHIELD. Oh, how she wanted to make him flinch. Maybe, if she was lucky enough, one of the Avengers. It would be just as good to see the mighty fall.

Two people entered the room and Phoenix knew who they were immediately. It was kind of hard to mistake the two avengers for anyone else.

This was both good and bad. The man would be easy to break, but the woman. She would be much more difficult. She was confusing thought. Back in the basement she had shown sympathy. Something Phoenix never would've expected from a woman of her reputation. Still, Phoenix had fooled her once. She could do it again.

The woman was the first to speak.

* * *

"What exactly are you doing on the table?"

Natasha had seen some pretty strange behaviour with prisoners. Usually they just paced up and down the room or sat there quietly. She had never seen any of them sit on top of a table with their legs crossed like they were meditating. She was unsure on how to approach the situation so she simply decided to ask the question outright.

Phoenix was watching the both of them with a careful eye. It was evident that she was going to remain stoic so Natasha stood behind one of the chairs at the table and stared Phoenix down. It was unnerving to look down on her when she could snap at any moment. Natasha and Steve had been reassured that the handcuffs Phoenix was stopped her from any hand movement at all, which would stop her from moving her hands to light things on fire.

"Sit down," Natasha pointed at Phoenix and then a chair on the other side of the table.

Phoenix looked her in the eye and smirked. "Aren't I already sitting down?" She sounded different from when Natasha first heard her in the basement. Her voice was less high pitched and not so shaky. There was an American edge to her voice but she seemed not to have an accent at all. Her voice was basic and her words simple.

Natasha titled her head to the side as Phoenix challenged her to lose her temper. This girl was a very good actress. Obviously her reaction in the basement was well rehearsed. Natasha finally got to see the real Phoenix, it was much worse than what she had encountered in the basement. Not afraid to challenge Natasha, and not afraid to push her luck too far. This was a bad sign.

"Get off the table," Natasha remained calm.

Phoenix smirked again and shuffled backwards, using her lower body to move across the table and drop into the seat. She landed with a small thud and swung her legs off the table. Phoenix didn't seem to convey much emotion but Natasha could tell just from her body language that she was smug.

Natasha sat down at the table, never breaking eye contact with Phoenix. "Do you know how many innocents have died by your hand?" being blunt seemed to be the quickest way for Natasha to get any progress on the matter of Phoenix. Phoenix's response was a predicted, she did not budge. So Natasha decided to continue with her bold move. "87 people have died in the last week because of you."

Natasha felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she spoke the words. What she was saying officially labelled Phoenix as a killer. There was no turning back from the fact now, but Natasha herself had a kill number that was triple Phoenix's track record.

Phoenix leaned forward and looked Natasha in the eye with a smirk on her face that made Natasha feel sick to her stomach. "I don't care," Phoenix's voice was practically a sly hiss that you might expect from a confident and aggressive snake. "They all deserved to die."

Natasha felt Steve tense next to him and his reaction instantly piqued Phoenix's interest. Her smirk widened and she turned onto him with a cocky and eerily playful expression. Natasha had seen the look before, Phoenix wanted to mess with his head. Natasha sat up straight and made quick eye contact with Phoenix, warning her to back off.

Phoenix brought it on herself by ignoring Natasha's warning.

"I've heard stories of you," Phoenix was grinning. Natasha wondered just how much this girl knew about things that she shouldn't. It was ominous to think that she knew too much because it meant that Doctor Blake knew too much as well. "Captain America, the Great War hero that fought for the freedom of the United States. My Master has told me all about how unique you are, your gifts are world known and an inspiration for many. My Master tells me that you and I are alike."

Natasha cocked a head to the side as she walked over Phoenix's words again. She kept mentioning _her Master_, obviously she meant Doctor Blake. All of this indicated that Doctor Blake was a lot more manic then they originally thought. This didn't necessarily make him more dangerous but it made Natasha more suspicious and cautious on the matter.

"How exactly are we alike?" Natasha was almost proud of Steve for keeping a straight face as he asked the question.

"We're both special Captain," Phoenix's behaviour changed as she became more into the conversation with unusual excitement. The words seemed rehearsed and her facial expression carefully practised. "My Master has said that since we are both different, they see us different. With you, they see you as a hero, a force for good. The bad people out there hate me because I'm different. That's our only difference Captain, how people see us defines our individuality."

"No," Steve shook his head. "I don't kill innocents."

"Neither do I," Phoenix returned the head shake gesture. "The people I kill are not innocent. No one is innocent."

Steve put his hands on the desk and leaned forward, looking Phoenix in the eye to show her that he wasn't scared of her act. Natasha was almost surprised that the super soldier was stepping up to the challenge so boldly. Natasha did note however that nothing so far seemed to threaten Phoenix at all and she didn't back away from anything.

"Why are you doing this?" Steve asked. "What possible reason could you have for killing so many people?"

Phoenix saw his determination and if it where Natasha asking the question she knew that she wouldn't show her emotions that easily but Steve didn't have her training, so he was exposed.

Phoenix leaned forward and bore a hard cold gaze into the super soldier.

"I obey My Master."


	11. The Debate

**A/N: Lot's of dialogue in this chapter so please bear with. Quick notice, I may or may not be uploading tomorrow because all of the chapters that have been submitted so far are ones that I've already written, and chapter 12 is where the line stops because I've only just started writing it. The story is 21 chapters so we've got 10 more to go after this one. Hopefully it will be finished before I go on my cruise on the 7th of December. Please read and review. I desperately want to know what you all think of my story because at this point so far I can't tell if you guys like it or not. But it would be nice if you could tell me, perhaps through a review.**

* * *

"How did it go?" Clint asked her as the lift arrived in the living room.

It was already late at night when Natasha finally got back to Stark Tower after being gone the whole day. He'd found a note shoved under his door when he woke up signed by Natasha, telling him that she and Steve had gone into SHIELD to interrogate a prisoner. She hadn't said who the prisoner was but Clint had been guessing all day. Most likely it was Doctor Blake since Natasha had been getting highly involved with the case regarding Phoenix.

Natasha glared at him, which was never good. Obviously it hadn't gone well at all if she was in such a bad mood.

"Sorry," Clint winced and gave her an apologetic look when she sat down next to him on the couch. No one else was around having already gone to bed, except for Tony who was spending the night in one of his labs as usual. "Why'd they call you in so early?"

"Hasn't anyone told you yet?" Natasha seemed confused now and Clint shrugged. No one had so far told him anything, he'd spent the whole day sitting around the tower for crying out loud, he was completely left out of the loop. It wasn't the first time it had happened though. Especially with Natasha Romanoff as his partner, Clint was usually a step of two behind.

"Last night Phoenix attacked SHIELD and she and the other super children helped Doctor Blake escape," Natasha sounded exhausted from just delivering the news.

"Last night security was tripled with defences on each floor," she sounded almost robotic now. "They attacked in two ways, from the top and from the bottom. Defences were somehow knocked out and four teenagers managed to take on about 200 fully trained agents, while also managing to free the prisoner with our highest security placed on him."

"No way!" Clint exclaimed. "Oh my god Nat this is worse than we thought. But wait, why were you called in to interrogate a prisoner when Doctor Blake escaped?" the facts about what Natasha was telling him didn't seem to add up.

"They managed to capture one of the teenagers while they were making their escape," Clint thought it was good news but Natasha sounded far from happy as she told him. "Captain Rogers and I interrogated them today and what we managed to get out of them, which wasn't much, was kind of hard for Steve to cope with."

"Which one?" Clint was curious now.

"Phoenix," the pieces finally fell into place as Natasha muttered the words bitterly.

It was a foolish move but Clint put a hand over Natasha's which were rested on her knees as she looked at the floor. He knew that Natasha didn't need comforting but he still patted her hand reassuringly. Clint always thought it was weird when he exchanged ordinary gestures with Natasha seeing as how the two of them were far from ordinary.

"Clint the way she talked," Natasha shook her head. "She talked like Doctor Blake was the only person in the world. She called him her Master. She doesn't even seem to realise that she is what she is because of him. He has drilled it into her head that everyone wants to see her killed and that he is the only person that she can believe in and because of that she obeys his every word. It's sickening. I was surprised Steve managed to handle it so well."

Clint didn't dare say it to Natasha's face but thought to himself that Natasha wasn't exactly handling it well either. He'd never seen her take anything personally with regards to a mission before, with Phoenix it was different. She was trying to save her and Clint had a pretty good guess at why.

Years spent at each other's sides Clint learned things about Natasha. Most important was that her past was a touchy subject that he didn't press into often. Young girl, brainwashed into murder and following the words of a crazy man. He'd seen it before. Actually he had meant to kill it before. Instead he brought Natasha home. The similarities between the two of them were kind of hard for Clint's mind to comprehend.

One thing he knew for sure, Natasha was going to do everything in her ability, (and probably more seeing as how she's really good at her job), to save Phoenix.

"Did you actually get anything useful out of her?" Clint asked as he removed his hand from her knee after realising it had been there a bit too long.

"Not one damn thing," she replied. "I'm not surprised really. Given how smart she is, she would never blurt things out to her enemy. I'm going back tomorrow but Steve will stay here."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Clint asked.

"I want to interrogate her alone but you're more than welcome to come with me to SHIELD," Natasha shrugged, proceeding to sigh dramatically and put a hand on her forehead. She stopped, looking at the ground then up at Clint, making contact with his eyes. "Did you stay up and wait for me?"

"Of course I did," Clint was slightly taken aback by the question. "You seriously thought I would be able to sleep having no idea where you were. You're the only person I actually give a damn about above everyone else. Remember that."

"If it came down to one of us being kidnapped it would be you Clint, and then I would be the one that would have to save your worthless hide," Natasha joked with her lips curving upwards in one corner.

"Natasha please," he titled his head back. "You're severely damaging my delicate man ego."

"Don't worry I'm sure it will live."

"Well I'm going to take myself and my battle scarred ego back to my room," Clint got up off the couch and looked back down at Natasha who still sat there. "Goodnight Agent Romanoff."

"Goodnight Agent Barton," she replied with a trademark Natasha smirk.

Natasha watched him walk towards the elevator with a smile on her face as she shook her head at the idiocy of her partner. He had the right idea though. Natasha was looking forward to seeing her bed after everything that had happened with Phoenix earlier.

She was just about to stand up and leave when she saw someone walk towards her.

"Pepper," she took immediate notice when the other woman began walking towards her with a glass of champagne in her hand. "I thought you might be keeping away from alcohol after what happened the other night."

"Wine I can handle. The stuff that Tony's always drinking, that's a completely different story," Pepper confirmed, filling the recently vacated space on the couch next to Natasha where Clint had been sitting. Natasha wasn't exactly thrilled that Pepper was now going to start with girl time but out of respect to the other woman she decided to stay and see where the conversation would lead.

"Hey I couldn't help but noticing the exchange between you and Clint, is there uh, anything going on there?" almost immediately Pepper began to get nosy.

"Nothing romantic has ever happened with regards to Clint and myself," Natasha was used to the constant questioning of people wondering if there was anything romantic between her and Clint. "We're just partners."

Pepper actually smiled off to the corner of the room before facing Natasha again. "No," she shook her head and Natasha actually peered at Pepper oddly, with her eyebrows low, her eyes squinted, and a titled head. Not often did she convey such strong body language that could be easily interpreted.

"What do you?" Natasha began to answer her question but stopped halfway.

"I saw how you looked at him," Pepper clarified. "It was a look I'd seen many times before. For some crazy reason I was attracted to Tony before we actually became official, if you know what I mean. Back then I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thinking about Tony, I would see something in my eyes. At first I honestly had no idea what I was looking at until it hit me one day."

Tony and Pepper's romance wasn't something Natasha wanted to know the inside details about. She'd dealt with their hopeless flirting before when she had been assigned to Tony as a SHIELD shadow. It had been almost painful to watch. Not to mention Pepper had held a big grudge against her at first because her methods of getting close to Tony hadn't exactly been professional.

"I can see the same thing in your eyes when you look at Clint," Pepper smiled at her. "It's a kind of warm look you get when you look at someone you hold close to your heart."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "This isn't a soap opera. There doesn't have to be romance around every corner."

"I've seen him look at you the same way," Pepper hit the defensive almost immediately. "Love isn't something you choose Natasha. Sometimes you don't even realise you're in love until one day it will just hit you. There are people you meet and you see them and you think, I like that, that's attraction. Love is when you meet someone and you think, not bad they're ok, and then you get to know them and suddenly they're this amazing person you just couldn't bear to lose."

Natasha sat there, unblinking and expressionless as Pepper finished her grand speech. Natasha was not ready to change her views just because of a woman that watches too much drama TV with love triangles and secret romances. "Love is for children," she remained adamant.

Pepper looked at Natasha's shoes running her tongue across her top teeth in thought. "If you really think that then you'll be able to look me in the eye and tell me exactly what you think of Clint without looking away or lying."

"You do know that I'm one of the best spies in the entire world don't you?" Natasha could see many flaws in Pepper's plan. "You would have no idea when I'm lying to you and I have starred mass murderers in the eye and told them to their face that I find their line of work highly attractive."

As expected Pepper halted, giving Natasha a strange look before talking again. "Then I'm asking you as a friend, not as a spy."

"Pepper, nothing has ever happened between me and Clint like that and it never will," Natasha sighed and rubbed her face, thinking back to the night Clint had been drunk and kissed her. What JARVIS had said to her, maybe the AI hadn't kept its mouth shut as promised and mentioned things to Pepper. It would explain her sudden interest into Natasha's love life.

"Look me in the eye," Pepper was strangely cocky for someone who was challenging Natasha Romanoff.

Natasha looked up, met Pepper's eye, and froze halfway through the first word of her sentence. She wanted to say that she didn't love Clint but the words wouldn't form right in her mouth. She couldn't love Clint though. Natasha Romanoff was The Black Widow, a ruthless killer. She couldn't love people, it was against her nature. Clint was just her partner, her friend, an ally. Nothing more.

She was allowing herself to get confused and emotional, she had to get a hold of herself. It was like meeting Phoenix had triggered an emotional overload in her mind. She was feeling sympathy for an enemy. This couldn't be tolerated. It was essential that she got a hold of herself. But she couldn't.

Thinking about Clint, really thinking about him, Natasha brought every little detail about him into her mind. His appearance, the way Natasha could talk to him about anything, the way he could go from being an agent of SHIELD to a real person in a matter of seconds, the way he could communicate with Natasha without even moving a finger.

Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Her ally, her friend.

Oh no, this was defienetly the worst trouble Natasha had ever landed herself in.

Natasha put a hand over her mouth and looked at Pepper who anticipated Natasha's answer with giddiness. "This is bad," with her hand still over her mouth Natasha's words were mumbled but Pepper heard her loud and clear.

"I knew it," Pepper went to hug Natasha but stopped, as if remembering that the woman sitting next to her could knock her unconscious faster than humanely possible if she made the wrong move. "Natasha this is huge, you need to tell him."

"No, no I can't," Natasha shook her head. "That would be bad. This already bad. This is about as far from good as you can get."

"Then why are you smiling?"

It hadn't even occurred to Natasha that her facial muscles had been pulling her lips into a small smile. She quickly wiped it from her face and mentally scolded herself for subconsciously showing too much emotion. He face became serious again and she faced Pepper with a hard glare.

"No, I'm not saying anything to anyone and neither are you," Natasha felt like slapping herself. "If this gets out I'll be signing my own death notice."

"What's the worst thing that can happen?" it was almost funny how naïve Pepper was. "It's not the like the whole world will explode if people find out."

"When Director Fury is your boss you have to be prepared for every outcome," Natasha spoke calmly. "I have seen him practically toss people out of SHIELD for having non-professional relationships with each other. I'm not exactly comfortable with risking my position at SHIELD for romance. Besides, the only reason I'm even thinking about Clint in that way is because people keep bringing it up. It'll wear off in a week anyway and I'll look back and laugh at the time I thought of Clint romantically."

"No," Pepper was still holding up her part of the argument even though she was fighting a losing battle. "It doesn't work like that Natasha. You've fallen for him and you know it."

Natasha abruptly stood up and looked down at Pepper. "Mention this to anybody and Tony will be waking up with a dead body next to him," Natasha warned. "Goodnight Pepper."

With those last words it was just a quick moment of storming for Natasha to reach the lift. No way in hell was she going to fall in love with her partner. Romantic drama was created in a fictional universe and it can damn well stay there. Natasha Romanoff blatantly refused to fall in love with Clint Barton. They're just partners, that's all they will ever be. Natasha will not become just another woman to fall in love and loose herself. She is not falling in love with Clint.


	12. The Escape

**A/N: I'm back with a fresh new chapter. Ok so quick warning, lot's of dialogue in this one but trust me it's worth it because you get some extra info on everyone's favourite psychopath, Phoenix. Plus you won't want to miss this ending. Read, review and enjoy as always you awesome readers.**

* * *

"I'm going to ask you one more time," Natasha faced her across the table. "Where is Doctor Blake?"

Phoenix sat stoic in her seat with her gaze fixated on Natasha. She'd been amusing herself for the past half hour by copying her exact movements down to the second. Every time Natasha blinked, sighed, shifted in her seat or pushed hair out of her face, Phoenix would be doing the same thing.

Clint watched from the other side of the two way mirror as the girls simultaneously blinked and folded their arms. It was almost like they were tuned to the same mindset. Natasha kept her cool for which Clint was amazed and proud of her for. Any other agent would've cracked within the first five minutes.

"How are they doing in there?" Director Fury practically appeared out of nowhere and stood next to Clint.

"The kid won't budge, she's making a game out of copying Agent Romanoff and she won't answer any questions," Clint informed him. "Agent Romanoff is keeping her cool and not acknowledging the copycat gestures. I think they're good for now sir."

"Hmm," the Director mused over the situation and watched Phoenix cross her legs exactly in time with Agent Romanoff. "Why aren't you in there?"

"Agent Romanoff wanted to interrogate the prisoner by herself first, but if she needs assistance I'm ready," Clint answered automatically.

"Carry on," he nodded and exited the room just as swiftly as he'd entered.

Clint went back to observing Natasha's attempts at interrogation. Phoenix obviously knew what to do in situations like this and barely ever opened her mouth, only ever to mime Natasha's facial expressions. Not a word passed across her lips which Clint thought was odd because according to Natasha, yesterday she had been more than glad to chat with them.

"Whatever it is that Doctor Blake's planning he won't get away with it," Natasha attempted a different approach and Clint picked up what she was doing practically straight away. She was playing a risky game if she was going to do what he thought she was going to do.

Phoenix glanced up and finally stopped her copycat act. It was clear that she was finally taking note of Natasha's words. So Natasha continued, seeing a prime opportunity. "If Doctor Blake is all that you put him up to be then why did we manage to capture him in the first place? If he thinks he will be able to outsmart us he's wrong."

Phoenix threw back her head and laughed. "You really think that SHIELD will be able to win against us. The only real competition you've ever had is a maniac who just happened to have an army of easily killable alien soldiers at his disposal. We are better in every possible way."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"Clearly you seem to have forgotten that we have abilities that far trump the skills of anyone in your little band of superheroes," Phoenix scoffed and leaned bag in her chair smugly. "Our abilities are natural, in fact the only one of you with any form of superpower would be the Hulk but he was a lab accident gone wrong anyway. Captain America is a great man but even his skills are hatched from a test tube."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "Do you think that you were born like this Phoenix?" This raised many more questions about Phoenix. It made her wonder what else Doctor Blake was hiding. "I've read his files, he calls you Test Subject 7. If anything you're the one with abilities hatched out of a test tube. Doctor Blake is lying to you."

Phoenix's reaction was instantaneous and unexpected. Phoenix stood up and slammed her handcuffed wrists onto the table angrily. She leaned forward and stared Natasha down, never breaking contact from her eyes. Clint shifted but remained where he stood.

"You're the liars!" she practically screeched. "All of you! My Master would never lie to me. SHIELD is poison, nothing but a disease. My Master saved me. He took me in and taught me everything about your sick ways. Mark, Josh, Bella, Sam, Heather, it's the same with them. My Master found them and he watched over them until the time would come for them to help heal our broken world. A world that you and your precious SHIELD crushed into dust."

She furiously banged on the table as best as she could without separating her hands too much due to the metal that held her wrists together. Slowly she sat back down in her seat, never breaking eye contact with Natasha, who remained stoic through Phoenix's raging. When she finally sat in the chair, she broke contact with Natasha and looked down. "You will all burn," she muttered before falling silent once again.

Natasha signalled to Clint that she was coming out of the interrogation room and proceeded to do so after one last look down at Phoenix who was still staring wordlessly at the ground. Clint knew that Natasha had taken Phoenix's reaction as calmly as possible but even she would have to be a little shaken up by it. He certainly was.

* * *

How dare she.

How dare she even suggest such a thing. Natasha Romanoff had no right to say anything about the Doctor. It was making its way the past the point of pure irritation. Everywhere Phoenix went there would always be the Black Widow. Every interrogation, she was there, asking questions and analysing her.

Phoenix didn't look up, but she heard soft footfalls and the noise of a door opening and closing. Finally she had left the room, leaving Phoenix to sit alone. Although she could no longer be seen or heard Phoenix still sensed Natasha's presence lurking around in the adjoining room.

This was fun. Playing with their minds and making them fear her. She already knew that The Black Widow was shaken up, even if she didn't show it. For someone who was supposed to be the world's best assassin she really was showing too much sympathy. Phoenix was almost eager to find out why and uncover the mystery.

She had no idea why, but there was a clock on the opposite way above the two way mirror. Maybe it was there to let prisoners know how long they'd been in there. Phoenix smiled at the position of the hands. Almost time.

She still had time left to have a little more fun.

* * *

"I've gotta try another angle," Natasha grabbed the files off Clint and was about to go back in when she saw Phoenix through the two way mirror.

She sat there emotionless with her eyes closed. It was odd how still and quiet this girl could be, especially after Natasha had seen the footage that morning of her slaughtering an entire hallway of Agents and then walking over their dead bodies and painting red onto the walls. The remanets of what she'd done in one of the labs was even worse.

"I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing here," Natasha sighed.

"Just keep doing what you're doing Nat," Clint stood next to her. "I trust you and I know that if anyone can do this it's you."

Natasha fought back a smile as her heart fluttered in her chest, demanding that she get closer to Clint. She ignored it and faced the scene in front of her. This was getting to be nearly intolerable. After last night with Pepper things had gotten worse, her head was now a recreation of World War 1 with severe battles happening daily. She knew for a fact that it wasn't World War 2 because Steve wasn't in her head throwing a shield around.

"Wish me luck," she clutched the file and walked into the room, refusing to show any signs of emotional compromise. Phoenix remained in the same positions and didn't even acknowledge Natasha's entry. "Hello again."

Still no reaction as Natasha sat across from Phoenix and dropping the file onto the table in front of her. "Do you know what this is?" Natasha tapped the file, directing her question at the stoic girl in front of her. Phoenix rolled her head up and looked at Natasha.

The reaction was only a short lived triumph but it was still progress. So Natasha continued, gouging more from Phoenix who seemed intent on only ever speaking when she felt like it. "This is a collection of autopsy reports and pictures of people that are deceased. Their deaths all have one similarity."

Phoenix tiled her head to the side and the lines around her mouth wrinkled as she smiled in amusement. Clearly the whole thing was a joke to her but Natasha was focused on changing that. She pulled a photograph from the folder and placed it in front of Phoenix. "This is Sam Baldwin," Natasha pointed to the picture of a man in his 30s with dark hair and a generic look. Phoenix looked up at Natasha, bored and demanding answers silently. "He was at Navy Pier with his wife inside one of the buildings, when a flaming Ferris Wheel collapsed on top of him and crushed him to death."

Phoenix looked from the photo of the man up to Natasha again. She shrugged, proving her point that she didn't care. So Natasha tried another person. Someone she knew that Phoenix would react to. Whether it would be a positive or a negative action was still to be decided.

"This is Alexandra Jones," Natasha put another picture in front of Phoenix and her reaction was instantaneous. Phoenix sat up and put a hand on the photo, looking at the picture of the five year old girl with long blonde hair and green eyes. Phoenix closed her eyes and nodded, pressing two fingers to her lips and making the sign of the cross on the picture.

Natasha had to hide her shock as Phoenix paid a sign of Christian respect to the dead girl. It hadn't even occurred to any of them that Phoenix even knew what religion was, let alone practise Christianity. It seemed odd that a scientist would teach his lab experiment about the bible.

"How did she die?" Phoenix asked, opening her eyes.

"She was on the Ferris Wheel and drowned when she fell into the water," Natasha told her. "Do you feel shame now? Do you feel regret?"

"Sadness yes, but not shame or regret," Phoenix answered. "I truly am I sorry that she died, but at the same time I am glad she got to leave this world before she was brainwashed into society and lost her innocence. She died in honour Agent Romanoff and I hope she received an equally honourable farewell."

Natasha thought she had been confused enough with the way Phoenix acted, but this more or less blew things out of the water. To think that her views on honour and respect were this twisted by Doctor Blake. Natasha was beyond furious, not only was she going to save Phoenix, but now she was just as determined to make Doctor Blake pay for what he'd done.

"Can I keep this?" the question from Phoenix came as such a surprise that Natasha answered yes automatically. Phoenix did not smile as she awkwardly folded the picture with her handcuffed wrists and then slipped it into her pocket.

"So you're a Christian then," Natasha was curious and couldn't help herself from asking the question.

Phoenix looked up at her with a smirk and leaned back in her seat. "You thought I was a Satanist then?" she joked. "Not surprising. My concepts and methods may be slightly different from the usual ideas of being a Christian, but I believe all the same."

"What exactly is your view on Christianity?" this was surreal. Natasha was having an actual conversation with this girl. It was a sign of hope, maybe Natasha wouldn't have to go to such lengths to save her after all. Maybe Phoenix could be convinced of the truth and be able to help herself.

"God is my Teacher but the Doctor is my Master," Phoenix answered. "It's kind of like a motto for me."

"Unusually simple for someone so complicated," Natasha leaned forward.

"I don't see what's so complicated," Phoenix shrugged. "I have my beliefs and I fight for them. It makes me no different from any of you, except I'm fighting on the other side of the line. I have my orders and I follow them. It's not hard to understand at all."

"So does that make you a soldier now?"

"I guess you could say that."

Natasha noted how Phoenix was relaxed with her words, meaning that what she was saying wasn't rehearsed for once. It was a good sign but Natasha wasn't ready to get too cocky. This was not going to be over until Phoenix was saved. She almost missed the exchange of Phoenix glancing at the clock on the wall behind her quickly.

Natasha tensed. There was only one explanation as to why Phoenix would do that. She was waiting for something, and whatever she was waiting for would occur at a specific time. There was no way that whatever Phoenix had planned was going to be good. She felt stupid for having thought that Phoenix could be helped that easily.

Natasha kept it to herself, not wanting to let Phoenix know that she suspected. She decided to carefully monitor Phoenix and observe and mentally record whenever she looked at the clock.

"So I assume that the other teenagers helped you free Doctor Blake?" It was time for a change in subject. Phoenix didn't take it well thought.

"What's it to you? You've already dragged one of us over to your side haven't you?" Phoenix demanded defensively. "And don't bullshit me. I know full well that you're working with Heather."

"Heather came and talked to us once and then told us that she didn't want to be dragged back into this freak show ever again," Natasha answered coolly. "She doesn't seem to be on anybody's side.

Phoenix scoffed angrily, folding her arms. "Heather is a coward and a traitor. She betrayed us just to save her own worthless hide. She is nothing to me."

"What about the other four?" Natasha wanted answers to her original question and she refused to let Phoenix keep sidestepping.

"They are still cowards but at least they do what they're told," Phoenix answered dryly, then looked at Natasha closer and leaned forward with a smirk. "I bet you want to know what they can do so you can catalogue them in your little SHIELD database. Well I'm not going to tell you."

Yet again Phoenix glanced up at the clock, barely missing it, Natasha reacted by sitting up straighter in her seat and putting a hand to her gun. But she still kept her reaction hidden.

"We already know that you are pyrokinetic and that Heather can move things with her mind and read other people's minds," Natasha answered. "I have no idea what it is that the other four have but I'm going to guess that they have equally powerful abilities. Actually," Natasha stopped and pulled out another file from within the file she was showing Phoenix earlier. "We do have a vague idea of what their powers are. Seeing as we caught them on camera when they broke in the other night."

"The girl Bella, she was creating a black mist in the foyer that our Agents found very hard to see through. Kind of obvious that one. For Josh, that took more deciphering, but we figured it out after we caught him on infra red. Invisibility huh? Impressive. Your buddy Sam, still not quite sure what he's got but we assume it has something to do we electricity seeing as how the licks flicked on and off in every corridor he was in and we couldn't find any hints of physical sabotage in our security systems. This indicates that he switched them off remotely. Mark was also kind of obvious as well. I'm assuming super speed is how you and him were able to escape Navy Pier so quickly,"

Natasha finished throwing photos in front of Phoenix that shoved clear evidence of the four teenagers demonstrating their powers. Phoenix looked pissed off for only a second and then looked back up at Natasha. She began clapping slowly. "Well done," her voice was dripping her sarcasm. "You looked at a few security tapes. How ingenious."

Phoenix glanced up at the clock again but this time she didn't look back quickly to avoid detection. Instead, her gaze fixated on the clock and she smirked. Natasha drew her gun and held it out in front of her, aiming it directly at Phoenix and standing up to prepare for an attack.

Phoenix jumped to her feet as well, mirroring Natasha reaction. The door was kicked open with a flash and Clint came barging in with his bow and arrow at the ready. "Make your move," he threatened. "You're handcuffed, so good luck setting anything on fire."

Phoenix bit her bottom lip as she smirked and slowly swivelled her head around to face Natasha. "Do you remember when we first met Natasha?" Phoenix asked in an eerie voice. "When I set that room on fire. Remember that?"

Natasha still held her gun at the ready but refused to say anything. Whatever she was saying was just another odd speech in her games. But even so, Natasha still thought back to the first time she saw Phoenix. It seemed so long ago that she thought that Phoenix was just a scared girl.

"Remember how I defeated you without moving a finger," the words struck in Natasha's head like a gong as everything that happened next went like a blur.

She felt the heat of the fire before she saw it and rolled across the small floor of the interrogation room to avoid it. A familiar stringing sound came from her right above her head and she recognised the sound as Clint firing arrows. Phoenix easily dodged the arrows and, with her hands still handcuffed, she kicked Clint backwards with such a force that he fell back through the door.

Natasha was running before she could even think about what her next move. Within seconds she and Phoenix were face to face and Natasha managed to punch her in the face before Phoenix could react properly. She had a slower reaction time which Natasha could use to her advantage.

Phoenix didn't seem to even feel the punch and with blood dripping from her nose, Phoenix grabbed Natasha with two handcuffed wrists and tossed her across the room. A feat Natasha new was impossible for any ordinary teenager. It was the one thing Natasha hadn't been expecting, Phoenix's abnormal strength.

Thankfully she landed near her gun and picked it up, firing a bullet at Phoenix. It was a perfect shot and would've hit Phoenix's right leg if the girl hadn't used a chair as a shield. She wasn't surprised really when her gun caught alight and she had to drop it to the ground to stop her hand from burning.

Weaponless and backed into a corner, Natasha and Phoenix stared at each other for a second. Clint regained consciousness just in time to see Phoenix summon a wall of fire that surrounded her in a circle of flames. Then the fire gathered itself up into a sphere that hovered in front of Phoenix for a second before it shot forward.

The sphere collided with Natasha in an explosion of raw heat and she vanished into the clutches of the violent flame.


	13. The Fear

**A/N:** **Hello everyone chapter 13 is finally here. Little bit shorter then normal but that doesn't really matter. I'm uploading this in the middle of the Day of the Doctor repeat so it's been a hectic Whovian day, plus a crazy week. Kind of left me stuck in the mud with this chapter but it's here so please read, review and enjoy as always.**

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All Clint remembered after he saw Phoenix toss a ball of fire at Natasha was a blur of orange and white, the smell of smoke and a roaring heat. Then he was unconscious again for the second time that night. He remembered screaming though. His own voice shouting the name of his fallen partner.

The very thought of Natasha being dead was almost too much for Clint. If anyone was going to die on the job it was most likely going to be him because she was just too good at what she did. He never remembered what he thought when he was unconscious but the gut feeling of despair and grief was something he would never forget after Natasha vanished into the flames.

So you can imagine his surprise when a certain red haired assassin pulled him out of unconsciousness by slapping him in the face.

Another painful tinge across his right cheek and Clint finally opened his eyes. "Ow what the?" He sat up and looked at his assailant, his sentence dropped off as he lost all ability to speak until reality slapped him hard in the face again. "Natasha what the hell? I'm awake you don't need to keep slapping me. How are you alive? Where's Phoenix? How long have I been out for?"

"I don't know I only just woke up myself," she answered and helped him up off the ground. He watched her put a hand to her earpiece radio. "This is Agent Romanoff someone please report."

A crackle of static and then a reply. "Copy that Agent Romanoff," it was the voice of an Agent neither of them recognised. "Director Fury requests the presence of you and Agent Barton at Stark Tower. Phoenix has escaped."

"Copy," Natasha responded grimly.

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"Seriously Natasha I'm glad you're not dead or anything but how are you alive?" Clint couldn't help himself from pestering his partner as he followed her down the stairwell of SHIELD's building towards the garage. "You're awesome truly, but I still didn't see you back flipping out harm's way."

"I don't know Clint," she answered as she opened the door to SHIELD's garage. "I got knocked unconscious."

"_You_ got knocked unconscious?" he was shocked. "I can't even remember the last time you got knocked out by anybody."

Natasha huffed at him and selected a shiny silver car. She had absolutely no concern for breaking and entering so she cocked her gun and shot the window. The car alarm rang loud and Clint winced, but it didn't affect Natasha. It was a little bit scary whenever Natasha got so determined about something that she did not care about any laws whatsoever.

"The fire was coming at me and I tried to dive out of the way but it moved faster than I anticipated," she continued talking as if the blaring car alarm didn't exist. She reached her hand through the broken window and pulled the door handle, unlocking the car. She and Clint climbed inside and Natasha began to hotwire the car as the conversation continued normally. "I felt the heat and the force of it pushing me backwards. I hit the wall and collapsed on the ground. There was smoke in my eyes and I couldn't see anything, I was choking but not burning. I fell unconscious, and then when I woke up the fire was gone. It was almost like nothing had happened."

The car alarm finally shut off as Natasha managed to override the controls and the vehicle purred to life. Clint wasn't even sure how she did it seeing as how all SHIELD cars were encrypted and supposedly impossible to hotwire. Natasha punched the gears into action and the car sped out of the garage and onto the crowded streets of Manhattan.

"I don't think she was trying to kill me," Natasha stated as she drove onwards.

"You're right, she could've killed us both anytime she wanted, but she didn't," Clint agreed. "But I don't know if that's good or bad."

"I guess we'll find out," Stark tower came towards them ominously as Natasha turned a corner and came onto the right street. "Whatever Fury has to say it's not going to be good. This is the second time she's slipped past us and we were lucky to escape from Fury's wrath the first time."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Clint snickered to himself at his joke.

Natasha however was not as impressed as she pulled the car into an empty parking space of Stark Tower's garage. They exited the car simultaneously and headed for the lift at an anxious pace. Natasha jammed the button for the top floor so hard Clint was worried for a second that it might never be able to be pressed again and they'd have to use the stairs every day.

Their arrival on the top floor was met with an angry looking eye patch. It was a childish notion but every time he saw his boss Clint would always look to the eye patch. Maybe to clarify it was there or to just simply stare at it, he didn't really know. For some reason Fury's anger seemed to actually effect the eye patch, making it look really pissed off.

"Sit down," with Fury's words sounding far too menacing, Clint wasted no time in following Natasha as they dodged around Fury and went to sit among the rest of the Avengers. Every eye in the room fell onto Natasha who stood against the attention, seemingly unfazed. "You mind telling us what happened Agent Romanoff?"

"I was interrogating Phoenix when she used her ability to break free, despite me being told that while she was unable to move her hands, she couldn't use pyrokinesis," Natasha spoke calmly, which not many people could do when Fury was standing over them looking angry. "It's not my fault that I was misinformed."

"And why didn't either of you report when I attempted to contact you?" Director Fury continued to question her.

"We were both incapacitated and quite frankly I think it's insulting that you didn't send a medical team to our last known location," Clint tried to copy Natasha's innocent but sassy way of responding. It clearly didn't work because Fury just gave him an annoyed look so he decided to leave the talking to Natasha.

"It was a timed escape," Natasha spoke up. "Phoenix kept looking at the clock quickly and then directing her attention back to me, it was obvious that the whole thing was planned from the moment we caught her. I bet she even planned to get caught."

"That's not the most sinister thing we've discovered about Phoenix's attack," Fury passed photos lifted from security cameras to Natasha and she began to pass them around the room so each Avenger could get a look. "This situation had now been upgraded to a Level 7. Just for a casual reminder that means that this just as bad as New York."

"Two days ago Phoenix, along with four other powerful teenagers, infiltrated SHIELD," Fury began briefing them. "Phoenix entered via floor 27 of the building and proceeded to incapacitate ever Agent on that floor. A lockdown was initiated by the intruders while Phoenix was still at the top of the building. And yet somehow she managed to go from the 27th floor to the basement."

"The basement," Clint repeated with his eyes bugging, Natasha was as equally stunned by this as him.

"It's where SHIELD keeps all the information we have ever collected," Fury clarified before Tony could ask. "Only a handful of people have access to be down there and I know for a fact that Phoenix is not one of those people. We managed to discover what mainframe she accessed and we also found out that a data chip was inserted and the files were copied and uploaded."

"Hold up there big guy," Tony held out a hand, telling Fury to stop. "You are actually admitting that a kid broke into your building a stole secure files. What'd she steal anyway?"

"That's highly classified," Fury replied irritably.

"And you let her steal these files? That was a smart move."

"Sir we scanned Phoenix and we found no evidence that she had any suspicious materials on her," Natasha cut across Stark before Fury turned around a shot him. "X-rays showed nothing either. Unless she lodged the data chip inside bone or has a hidden box in the back of her throat it's highly unlikely she actually made off with anything."

"Guess again," Fury snatched a photo off Thor and tossed it to Natasha. It showed a grainy picture of Phoenix in the basement of SHIELD with a small object in one hand and the data chip in the other hand. She looked closer at the small object and realised what it was.

"A false tooth," Clint's sharp eyes picked it up before Natasha and he looked up at Fury. "Probably lined with metal compounds to stop our scanners from seeing inside it. Clever."

Fury collected the photos back off them and sat down where he could look them all gravelly in the eyes. "We are facing a potential global catastrophe now that Phoenix has this information. She has more than likely reunited with Doctor Blake, which means the two have just become even more deadly. Alone we are capable of taking them down, but together," the director shook his head. "We're going to need a lot more firepower."

"Captain," Fury turned to Steve. "As leader of this team I'll leave it to you to determine a plan of action. I would also recommend you include Agent Romanoff in your plans as she knows the most about Phoenix and will able to help anticipate her next move."

"I'd be willing to help formulate data and determine the most likely places for Phoenix and Doctor Blake to hide out," Clint offered.

"Good then get on it," Fury nodded. "And Stark I want you and Banner helping in any way you can. Make some gadgets, do some science experiments, I don't care."

"You had me at gadgets and science," Tony saluted from where he casually sat on the couch.

An odd thudding sound came from above them as the building shook. Natasha and Clint looked at each other before being the first to rush to the window and look up above them for the source of the noise, the other occupants of the room followed suite and crowded around the two master assassins.

Looking upward, Natasha spotted what looked similar to a small and colourful tornado on top of the building. Having seen the occurrence before in a report Natasha immediately rolled her eyes and Clint, who had been in New Mexico at the time, recognised it as well.

Within a minute the lift dinged and Thor made his arrival. Natasha hadn't even noticed that he was gone, but then again she still wasn't used to having him around so it was more or less normal for him not to be there. He strolled in like it was no big deal and took a seat on the couch while everyone watched him from the window, except for Fury who hadn't moved at all.

"If you broke any part of my roof you're paying for it," Tony threatened.

"Thor did you seriously think it was ok to open your magical space portal at the top of Stark Tower, in broad daylight, in the middle of New York?" Clint asked as he walked back over to the sitting area.

"I meant no harm Agent Barton," Thor shrugged. "I spoke with my father and told him that I would be staying longer than planned so I can help with the matter of Phoenix. Heimdall told me before I left Asgard that she escaped from SHIELD."

"Did he say where she went?" Fury asked.

"I'm afraid not," Thor replied.

"So we're back at square one," Bruce sighed.

Fury stood up with his folders in hand and looked down at Natasha and Clint. "Make sure you find her before she strikes again because now that's she's been reunited with Doctor Blake there's no telling what will happen." With those words, Fury exited the room swiftly and dramatically.

Although his words were grim Fury still had a point. Phoenix was probably acting on old orders, but now that she and Doctor Blake were together again she would be getting new orders. Whatever they were planning now, there was no chance that it would be good.


	14. The Plan

**A/N: Ok so quicker update for chapter 14. Can you believe we've only got another 7 chapter to go after this? I'm so excited. Thanks to the awesome person whose name I do not know that has been reviewing in the past day or so, you're the best. And to the rest of my gorgeous readers who are equally as amazing because they actually wasted time reading this. Anyway on with chapter 14, and as always, read, review and enjoy.**

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Phoenix walked down the crowded streets of New York City as calmly and carefully as possible. She wanted to blend in and be invisible. With no doubt SHIELD would be hunting her, so she kept her dark hoodie up so it covered her face from cameras.

As she rounded a corner onto another street she paused slightly to look around for anyone that might be following her. It looked all clear. Quickly, quietly and inconspicuously she dashed into an alleyway and moved fast. At the end of the alleyway there were boxes stacked up in a corner. She knocked them aside and opened a panel in the wall to reveal a keypad.

She typed in the correct code and something slid out of the wall next to the keypad. Phoenix put her eye up to it and a red light scanned her eyes up and down. With a beep it shot back into the wall and a section of the wall slid sideways. Then lift doors opened and with another quick look around her surroundings, Phoenix shot inside.

The interior of the lift was plain silver with a panel on the left. There were five buttons she could press. There was Ground, which was where she just came from, and then levels one, two, three and four. Phoenix pressed level 4, the lowest level.

She leant against the cold hard surface of the lift as it descended further downwards. When she reached the right level the doors slid open to reveal a dimly lit room with the other kids seated around a plain grey table. They all looked up in fear once she stepped out of the lift.

She smirked. The only way to treat your soldiers is to pierce fear into their hearts so they will follow orders without hesitation and travel with you to their deaths. Words a wise man had told Phoenix as he explained to her the plan if SHIELD ever captured him. Now that they had and he had escaped, the next phase of the plan would have to be put into action. It was now the time to learn that plan and enforce it.

"Where is he?" Phoenix asked them in a firm voice.

"Through there," Sam told her pointing to the door at the opposite end of the room.

Phoenix gave them all a glance before walking into the room. It was even more darkly lit than the room before it. Phoenix however managed to make out the shape of a long table. She stood at one end wrapping her fingers around the corners and gripping it tight.

The lights in the room turned on as Doctor Blake pulled the switch and Phoenix finally laid eyes upon her Master again as he faced her from the other end of the table.

Doctor Blake was a tall man in his early 40s. His dark hair looked like it hadn't been cut in a while and the fringe of it just reached his eyebrows. He was tall but not thin or gaunt, more or less ordinary looking really. Not exactly a person you would look twice at. But he was Phoenix's Master, and that made him the most important figure on Earth

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, and then beamed at her the way a proud parent would. "Phoenix," she stood up straighter as he acknowledged her and felt satisfaction at being reunited with him. "You have escaped. Excellent job my child. Now, did you get the information I asked of you?"

"Yes sir," she replied. Then she reached a hand into her mouth and yanked on her false tooth, pinching it between her index finger and thumb, she pulled it out of her mouth and clicked it open. She removed the memory card and placed it into the Doctor's outstretched hand before pushing her false tooth back into place

"Excellent work. Did you tell them everything I asked you to?"

"Yes sir."

He nodded and directed Phoenix's attention to e motioned to a map or the world that was laid out in front of her on the table. It was very plain but it was highly detailed with state, country and continent lines and the capital cities in bold writing. She reviewed the map and then looked up at the Doctor.

"I believe you have heard of the word peace before." Phoenix nodded in response and he returned the gesture curtly. "Then, being the intelligent girl you are, you would know that it simply does not exist. There will always be Conquest, War, Famine and Death. Four things that are currently ruling this world. Even the Christians knew this, and predicted that when these four things walked the Earth the world would fall. The world has already fallen, everything is being destroyed. Now my question is, why is the world falling?"

"Greedy tyrannical governments controlling people and taking away livelihoods," Phoenix answered automatically.

"Correct, and what is SHIELD?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. They purposely wanted their acronym to spell SHIELD because they are trying to convince us that they are protecting mankind, when really they have no care for mankind, only power. They would rather see us dead then let us help the human race," Phoenix responded with the words that she had always been taught.

"Exactly," he grabbed several different flags and placed them onto the map. Phoenix recognised them as Nazi, American and English flags. He placed them all in their correct countries. "When Adolf Hitler brought along a new regime to Germany, he did things that caused havoc across the world. All of these events happened one thing after another and the next thing you knew, it was World War Two. America came to the aid of Great Brittan," he moved all the American flags over to England. Except for one.

He held up the remaining American flag for Phoenix to see. "Captain America was the greatest hope for the war. He was the perfect soldier, just like you Phoenix. You are the only hope for our dying world. But you will not wear a flag on your chest and fight for a government just as evil as the one they commission you to fight. No, you will fight for what is right and just."

He handed Phoenix the American flag and she looked over it carefully, and then looked back up at the Doctor. "So what's the plan?" she asked as she watched him remove the Nazi flags from the map and put all the American flags back in their right country.

"To kill your enemy you must first make him bleed, and to make him bleed you must wound him. First we will wound our enemy, to do this we will defeat The Avengers and let everyone across the world watch us kill their only hope. This will make the government bleed, and that is when we will deliver the final blow," he knocked the American flags off the table with a fierce backhand. "America is the Mother Ship of the world. When we kill the Mother Ship, the rest of the world will be vulnerable. With one strike our enemies will be defeated."

Phoenix furrowed her brow. "I'm not sure I understand sir," she spoke. "You plan to save the world by destroying it?"

He nodded. "The world will fall. Then humanity will rise from the ashes into its new life. Exactly like a Phoenix," he smiled and walked towards Phoenix, putting his hands on her shoulders. "With you at my side, we will conquer the world and everyone will see the truth."

Phoenix puffed out her chest and held her head high. It was all she wanted, to be at Doctor Blake's side as, together, they healed the world. Of course the others would be there as well, the thought led her onto another question

"Will Heather have a part in the plan?" Phoenix asked.

The Doctor sighed. "I don't think I will ever have the heart to kill Heather. But she has made her choice. I only hope that when she sees the true evil in this world she will change her mind," he looked saddened for a moment and then brightened up again. "That however is not the concern at the moment. Phoenix I believe it is time to get your troops together."

"Yes sir," she turned and began to walk away, heading in the direction of the other room where the others were waiting.

"Phoenix," he called her back and she stopped immediately, turning to face him. "While you were at SHIELD who interrogated you?"

"I was interrogated twice," she replied. "The first time by Captain Rogers and…"

"Steve Rogers?" The Doctor interrupted her by exclaiming loudly. "You were in the room with Captain America? Tell me, what was he like?"

"He was practically the same as you described him to me," Phoenix was a little off set by the Doctor's sudden change in attitude. It was reasonable though, he had already clearly stated his respect for the American hero. "He is a great man but he's been misguided and is fighting for the wrong cause."

The Doctor nodded, absorbing what she had said into his mind. "You said you were interrogated twice, who questioned you the second time?"

"She was present at both interrogations but we were along together without Rogers for the second interrogation," Phoenix explained. "She goes by the alias of Black Widow. Do you know her?"

The Doctor nodded, something changing in his facial expression. Phoenix of course only saw Doctor Blake but to any other trained and observing eye it could be clearly seen that the usually self-conserved Doctor had a darker glint glide across his facial expression and there was a subtle hint of fear that glimmered only for a second in his eyes.

"Agent Natasha Romanoff," Phoenix couldn't even pick up on the fact that his tone became darker as he spoke. "I've heard many stories. Phoenix you must promise me that when the time comes down to it you will leave her to me. She is world renowned for being manipulative and trying to twist things into your mind that aren't real. Remember that she is one of SHIELD's best agents and that makes her deadly."

"She's already tried to play her game with me," Phoenix told him. "She kept saying things to me and trying to tell me that you were lying to me. She said they found a notebook that you'd written and in it you had called me Test Subject 7. It was an absurd lie and I know the truth. Obviously they're attempting to get me to turn, which I swear to you I will never do."

Doctor Blake tried to hide his panic at Phoenix saying the words Test Subject 7, if she ever, but there was no concern. The girl believed only what she wanted to believe. Her naivety was almost sweet. He smiled down at her, proving his worth, and she foolishly bought it. "You did excellent. But now it's time for the next stage in our plan. We must forget the main picture and focus on our next goal."

"Is it time for the warning sir?" Phoenix asked with a smirk.

"Yes Phoenix, I believe it is," he picked up a drink from the small table next to him and held it up high. "Remember Phoenix. Strike your enemies not only in their body, but in their heart and mind. Do this and they will fall."


	15. The Warning

**A/N: Another long update folks and I apologise but this one was particularly difficult. I probably should've mentioned this a while back but I have a tumblr page for my stories sometimes I post stuff on it and sometimes I don't but it would be awesome if you guys started following me. The link is on my profile page. And now for my catchphrase, read, review and enjoy.**

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"Pressure holding steady," Bruce looked over the top of the screen at Tony and gave him the thumbs up. They were situated in one of Stark Tower's many Research and Development laboratories. The computer screen showed that everything was in the green, but he was right to be cautious. "Are you sure that this has been tested before?"

"What are you talking about," Tony scoffed. "I test it when it needs to be used. Of course I haven't tested this before."

Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he took off his glasses. He had given up arguing with Tony's eccentric ways, now Bruce just goes with it and backs out of the way when things explode. Tony held a remote control in his hand that basically just comprised of a big red button.

Before he could press it, Steve and Clint entered the room and immediately their eyes fell to the device in Tony's hands. "Whatever you're planning on blowing up, give us a fair warning so we can evacuate the tower first," Clint remarked.

"For your information Robin Hood, we are fitting in some security measures against our new little super villain," Tony didn't find the joke funny. "We're Phoenix-proofing the Tower."

Steve walked forward and looked at Bruce's screen curiously. "What have you got for us?"

"Well I figured since Phoenix is kind of dependent on her power, then obviously her weakness is water," Tony held up a glass of water for them all to see as a demonstration. "So to keep her out of the tower we set booby traps. Right now we've just finished putting the finishing touches on the defence mechanism in the lift."

"Tony, I've seen Phoenix dive off a cliff into the ocean, I don't think water scares her," Clint stated. "What exactly have you done to the lift anyway?"

"Well," Tony held up the glass higher to make sure they all saw it and motioned to a small rectangular tin that stood up with no top on it. Obviously it was supposed to represent the lift. "I have installed a secret panel at the top of the lift, so if an intruder comes in," Tony tipped the water into the tin until it filled up to the top. "The panel opens and the lift is flooded."

"You're going to drown her?" Steve demanded.

"No of course not, what kind of person do you think I am?" Tony put the lid on the tin that was still filled with water. "The lift goes straight downstairs and empties Phoenix out into an inescapable room, oh and, FYI, the room is fire proof."

Clint found a clear space amongst the clutter and sat atop of one of work benches where he could look down on the other three men easier. "She'll find a way around it," Clint handed some paper to Tony. "Nat and I have been working on some things you might want to put to use. Basic defences and security programs, nothing too fancy."

"Wonderful," Tony said sarcastically. "How come you're the only one that can get away with calling her Nat by the way? Is it a personal romantic pet name between the two of you or what?"

"Just get to work," Clint descended from the bench and walked out of the room.

The three men watched them leave and as Tony looked to Bruce he noticed Bruce, and even Steve, shaking their heads. "Come on tell me you guys aren't even a little bit curious as to what the hell is up with those two. Are they dating, are they secretly married? We don't know, but I would like to find out. There's obviously something going on between them."

"It's not our business Tony," Steve didn't want to intrude at all between Clint or Natasha, especially not Natasha.

"Oh well," Tony shrugged and picked up his big red button again. "Let's get this party started." He pressed the button and Steve held his breath in anticipation.

He exhaled after a minute. "Nothing happened," he looked around.

"Well of course it didn't, Tony was shocked at the Captain's lack of scientific knowledge. "I only activated it, it's not like I was trying to flood my lift. It's only going to do that if there's an intruder and we will know if there is an intruder because an alarm will go off."

A loud noise like a mixture of a klaxon and a doorbell started ringing all around them as all of the screens in the laboratory flashed red. Tony bit his lip and looked at one of the screens that clearly read, in big bold capital letters, **INTRUDER ALERT**.

"Well that was ironic," he said, trying to talk above the blaring alarm.

Bruce was the only one doing anything as he frantically scrolled through the screen looking for something; eventually he found it and showed it to Tony. "Well it worked, the lift has been flooded, but there's a problem," he seemed to be acting like a host on a TV show when they laced on the suspense so hard it was another year before they gave you the answer. "The lift's still going up."

Tony and Steve reacted at the same time, pushing each other out of the way as they made for the door and rushed down the stairs towards the sitting area. They arrived at the same time, the rest of the Avengers watching them as they entered before turning their direction back to the panel above the lift doors that showed what floor it was on. Natasha of course had a gun at the ready.

Slowly up the lift came and when it arrived, they didn't get what they expected. The lift opened and water practically exploded out of it, gushing out across the floor in a river, and with it came the intruder. Heather came out on her back, like she was coming out of a water slide, coughing and spitting water; she slid with the miniature river until she came to a stop in front of the Avengers.

Steve and Natasha were the ones to help her to her feet and once she got over the initial shock, she immediately got angry. "Whose idea was it to have a lift flood whenever someone enters it?" She demanded furiously as she wiped her head around, flicking water everywhere from her dripping wet hair.

"Um well," Tony rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I come here to help you and in return I nearly get drowned," Heather furiously took off her coat and rung it out. "After the help I have given you, Phoenix is still out there and now she's with Doctor Blake. This is all out of control and clearly all of you are too stupid to keep an eye on one mentally challenged teenager."

"Help?" Natasha questioned. "All you did was tell us how many of you there were. You call that help."

"Sorry," Tony cut across the spy and apologised. "The lift was supposed to empty you out into an inescapable room. I must've got the calculations a bit mixed up."

"No kidding," Heather snapped viciously as she wrung out her soaking hair.

Heather stood with her arms folded and a scowl on her face, but somehow it was clear that her near death by drowning wasn't the reason she was in such a foul mood, although it probably made it worse. No Heather wasn't angry as such, frustrated maybe, but as her appearance shifted and she lost control over her scowl for a minute the truth emerged. It was evident in that moment that Heather was scared.

"Whatever happened to, I don't want to be involved with this freak show?" Clint asked her.

"Has it not occurred to you people that after your screw-up, my ass is now on the line? Phoenix and Doctor Blake will come for me and the only way I can stay alive is by backing you guys because at this point you are the only ones that can stop them," Heather sat on the couch despite Tony's obvious hatred of having someone soaking wet on his furniture.

Her demeanour changed again and her confidence faltered. "Also last night I um- I heard something. In my head, almost like an echo of someone's thoughts. I think I heard them, all five of them, including Phoenix," Heather refused to make eye contact as she told them her story.

"The other super children," Steve nodded in understanding.

"Is that what you're calling us now?" Heather asked. "Not a very appropriate name."

"What did you hear Heather?" Natasha wanted to get straight to the point.

"I think it was the others trying to communicate with me through the link. Not Phoenix of course, but Mark, Josh, Bella and Sam, the other four," Heather began to repeat her experience with shaking hands. "They kept saying 'Warn Them' over and over again. I picked up other things as well; memories and unintentional thoughts, but I got the gist of the message. None of them want to be there, Phoenix is forcing them and threating them to be her soldiers. They don't want any part of it, they just want it to end. Please I am begging you now, don't harm them given the chance they will surrender, they're just too scared of Phoenix. They want me to tell you that they're coming for you."

"And then," Clint rolled his hands to get her to continue once she stopped talking.

Clint wasn't stupid, he easily picked up on the same thing that Natasha did and noticed that there was more to it then what Heather was letting on. Natasha unwillingly looked at him and her facial muscles pulled her lips into a small smile. She wiped it off her face quickly and faced Heather again, fighting to ignore her quickly rising heart rate.

"And then Phoenix happened," Heather spoke quietly. "She must've gotten pulled into the link and we were all hit with just," she struggled for words. "Pure horror," she shook her head whilst her eyes widened and an awful look of pain crossed over her face. "First it was the screaming, and then we saw things that I can't even repeat. Phoenix has been tortured, all her life. Not your average kind of torture with a scalpel and an electric chair, the kind of torture that drives someone to the brink of death and removes their humanity. Phoenix is dead; she has been dead for a long time. There's no hope for her."

Silence wiped across the room and shockingly it was broken by the last person they would expect it from. Thor really hadn't given his input into the situation at all, only ever speaking up on a rare occasion, but somehow he was ready with a long speech and Natasha was nearly taken aback when he drew all attention in the room to himself.

"What makes you so certain of this?" he asked Heather with a look on his face that she had only ever seen the demigod pull once, when they were talking about Loki on the hellicarrier. "You say she is broken, but broken things can be mended. You cannot simply give up hope because you are not willing to even try. You seem so certain about Phoenix being a monster and yet you don't even know her."

Heather scoffed and titled her head back in self-perseverance. "You don't know her any better than I do," she retorted bitterly.

"Exactly," Thor kept a straight face. "And yet I see hope where all you see is darkness. What does that say about you as a person? It shows that you do not care."

Natasha was equally as proud of Thor as she was stunned that he had taken such an unexpected stance against Heather.

"Look kid we get that Phoenix is a difficult child but we don't give up on people so we're gonna do whatever we can to save her," Tony shrugged as Natasha looked back and forth between the billionaire and Heather, but the second time she looked over at the teenager she saw something odd, but Tony continued talking. "We're The Avengers, we save people, it's in the job description."

Heather looked to the side but it was obvious that she wasn't focusing on anything from the way she stared. There was a look of pure terror on her face as she continued to stare off into nothing. It was easy recognising that look, because it could only mean one thing. "Heather?" Natasha asked, hoping and praying that she was wrong.

Sure enough, Heather slowly turned and her eyes met Natasha's. "They're here."

At the very same time that Natasha managed to get her hands on a gun there was a banging sound that came from above them. Clint also held a gun and he and Natasha automatically went back to back in the centre of the room and began scanning the area for any signs of an incursion. Natasha looked upwards as there was another bang.

"Tony please tell me that you don't have air vents?" Clint's eyes were aimed upward as well.

Tony laughed nervously. "I had security measures in place," he fessed up. "I thought it would be secure."

There was another loud bang. Natasha caught sight of a grate flying off from the air vent it had once secured before everything went dark. Literally, all light was scourged from the room and Natasha could see nothing, not even with her sharp eyes. She reached for the spot where Clint once stood but grasped nothing but thin air.

Without any warning whatsoever, Natasha was flung backwards by an unsuspected and strong force. Although she could see nothing, Natasha defienetly felt it when she was slammed into the wall side on. A jarring pain rushed through her left shoulder as the sudden impact with the wall dislocated it, pushing it too far back past her collarbone. She hit the ground just as the darkness went out of the room as quickly as it had entered.

The scene laid out before Natasha wasn't surprising. All the Avengers had been shoved onto the couch with two boys standing over them with guns that Natasha could see; they had no idea how to use. She recognised the dark-haired tall one as Marcus Winters and the other shorter, fair haired one as Joshua Smith. In front of Natasha and pointing a gun at her head was a small 16 year old who looked even more terrified then Heather had been earlier, easily recognisable as Isabella Mason. Samuel Lidsdale fixed his glasses with a shaking hand as he held onto Heather's bicep, but Heather didn't look to be struggling. Every eye in the room was focused on the small, thin, redheaded figure that stood in the centre of the room, the only smug looking face among them.

"It's good to finally meet all of the Avengers together, in the one room," Phoenix looked around at all of them, but never once payed any attention towards Natasha. Still slumped against the wall with a dislocated shoulder, Natasha knew that Phoenix was avoiding eye contact with her. The main question of why, was wiped from Natasha's mind as Phoenix's focus went to Heather. "You've betrayed us, you're siding with the enemy. Heather these people are lying to you, they're going to kill you, because you will have outlived your usefulness. That's all we are to them, tools."

"Doctor Blake is the one that means to use us as tools," Heather shook her head.

"How dare you. He is the only one that ever cared about us, the only one who would be willing to save us. They're poising you, can't you see it?" Phoenix hissed and then looked at the Avengers once again, but ignored Natasha. "This is your warning. In two days' time I'm coming back, with Doctor Blake and you and SHIELD will fall. There will be no stopping us."

"Oh really is that all you came here to say?" Tony asked sarcastically. "Honestly I would've gone with, 'I'll be back'. It would've made this whole thing go shorter."

Phoenix payed no attention to his comment, just like she was paying no attention to Natasha and turned back to Heather. "I'm giving you one final choice. Stand with us or fall with them."

Off to the side Tony said, "Cliché," in a sing-song voice.

"I'm not siding with a monster," Heather spat. It was oddly surprising, that Heather had claimed to be terrified of Phoenix earlier, when in that moment she was standing up to her so fiercely.

Phoenix smirked in amusement and looked at each of the four teenagers, her gaze falling last on Bella. For the first time since she'd broken in, Phoenix looked down at Natasha. As she looked back up at Bella she smiled deviously. "Time to crush the spider."

Bella looked down at Natasha in fear with a shaking head. "I'm sorry," she whispered, almost too shaky and quiet for the assassin to hear. The light was purged from the room again and there was a quick silence before Natasha's scream was all anyone could hear.


	16. The Alert

**A/N: Ok so another short chapter and a little bit boring but very important to the storyline. Phoenix's upcoming attack will occur soon but you need to wait a couple more chapters I'm afraid, something to look forward to. Also I intend to have this story completed before the 7th of December as there is only a few more chapters to go. As always, read, review and enjoy.**

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As if it wasn't humiliating enough that she had twice been a victim of Phoenix's attacks, Natasha had to keep her mouth shut while she had her arms wrapped around Clint's neck as he carried her towards Stark Tower's infirmary. Not only was she aware that Clint's was carrying her bridal style, she was reminded of when he had kissed her, having him that close to her face was not encouraging. Yet again Natasha's heart rate began to quicken.

Natasha fought back another scream of pain as she paid attention to her dislocated ankle. At least she hoped it was dislocated, if Natasha broke any part of her legs that meant bed rest, which was basically the epitome of torture for the assassin.

The same pain that was in her left shoulder was also in the right shoulder, her ankles and her fingers. When everything went dark one of the teenagers had done their best to dislocate as much of Natasha's limbs as they could and they had succeeded.

She knew how to put everything back into place of course but everyone else in the room had been adamant that they needed to get her under a medical scanner to make sure she wasn't dying. The problem was that none of the guys were keen about carrying Natasha, so that left Clint.

"You ok Nat?" Clint asked as Dr Banner opened the door to the infirmary and directed them inside.

"I'll live," she muttered, biting down another sound of pain as Clint placed her on one of the beds. He was trying to be gentle, Natasha knew that, but even breathing was causing her pain at that moment. "Make sure you hurry it up Dr Banner, I'd like to put everything back into place."

"I have to make sure that there was no other damage done," he told her as he ran a medical scanner up and down her body. "Like for example, broken bones or internal bleeding." The scanner made a beeping noise and flashed red. He tapped a few buttons on a screen and began to search for any other serious injuries.

"Is no one else here wondering what the hell was up with Phoenix?" Tony asked as he made himself comfortable by sitting on the bed across from Natasha. "She came, she talked and then walked out. There was no grand bonfire display or even some extra commentary. What did she gain by breaking in, saying about three lines and then pulling Lara Croft apart like a jigsaw?"

"I am not a female Indiana Jones," Natasha sighed and let her shoulders drop, which was a bad idea, seeing as how even touching them was painful.

"What about the fact that she put Agent Romanoff in a corner and proceeded to ignore her, only to give her minor injuries after a short conversation." Steve nodded to Natasha respectfully. "If she really wanted to harm her I don't think Phoenix would've hesitated to break bone, or even attempt a kill."

"That's twice now she's had a chance to kill you Natasha," Thor added. "I don't think she means you any harm."

"Also the whole mysterious darkness thing, what the hell was that?" Tony asked. "It goes dark they appear out of nowhere, then it goes dark again and they vanish. Not even JARVIS could see through it, I've got no idea how they got in or out, all systems got knocked down, but we didn't even notice."

"The other girl, the small one with the dark-hair, we're not quite sure how her ability works but it has something to do with darkness," Clint told them. "Also one of the boys can control electricity or something like that. We never exactly had a chance to get them under a scanner."

Bruce finally finished reviewing the results of Natasha's medical scan and spun on his heels to face her. "4 of your finger are dislocated as well as one of your pinkies, not to mention one of your ankles and both of your shoulders. I don't think I've ever seen so many dislocations in one person."

"She's a special case," Clint quipped which earned a snicker from Tony and a glare from the assassin sitting next to him, who would've slapped him if it weren't for her many dislocated limbs.

"Yes well you're all safe to pop everything back in so to speak," Bruce shut down the screen and put away the scanner. "However I would be careful with her left shoulder. Probably one of the worst anterior dislocations I've ever seen. The humerus has been so badly separated from the scapula it's lucky her arm didn't fall off or shatter."

Natasha didn't need the whole speech, she was just anxious to get herself back together. "Alright then. I need something to bite down on," Natasha looked around and saw nothing that was safe to put in her mouth to bite down on. So she took off her jacket and bit down on the sleeve of that.

Natasha counted to three in her head and cracked her first finger into place, biting hard on the jacket. She did the same with the second, the third and the fourth. She came to her pinkie last and was grateful for the pain that came with it as it slipped into place.

"Who's wants to help me put everything else back?" Natasha tried her best to mumble past the leather material in her mouth.

Every single man in the room took a step back and Natasha rolled her eyes. Eventually someone pushed Clint forward and he seemed hesitant at first, put walked forward. She was grateful it was him though because she doubted that any of the others knew how to put a dislocated shoulder back into place. Except for maybe Doctor Banner, but after her past experiences with the Hulk it wasn't exactly the best idea.

Clint grabbed her right shoulder with one hand and then pressed against her back, pushing in the opposite direction with her shoulder and slipping it upward and to the left a bit. Natasha bit down again on the jacket, but it was a welcome pain.

"What I don't get is why dislocation?" Steve continued their earlier conversation as Clint got down on his knees to reach Natasha's dislocated ankle. "Obviously it was intentional seeing as how they did it to you so many times. Seriously though it's weird."

"Not really," Natasha mumbled. "It's a good way to slow your enemy down but keep them ready for a fight. It's not like this is the first time this has happened to me. Once I had to crawl my way three miles with a dislocated knee because genius over here thought it was a good idea to split up."

She pointed to Clint who laughed under his breath. It had been a mission in the Netherlands where Clint had gotten stuck in a tunnel collapse and then drugged. The aftereffects of the drug had spouted many long running and private jokes between the assassins.

Natasha's ankle went back into place and she gratefully moved it around once the pain had mostly subsided. Clint stood up and put his hands on Natasha's left shoulder, the one that had the worst injury. She winced as she prepared for the upcoming pain.

"One thing's for sure is that Phoenix had no intention of permanently harming me," Natasha added. "But that puts things into an even more confusing perspective." Barely a second had gone by after she spoke when Clint jammed her shoulder back into place and, acting on a reflex, she slapped him as hard as she could across his right cheek.

* * *

The next morning arrived with a bright sunrise, the calming sounds of New York traffic and Fury storming into Stark Tower and shouting, "Agent Barton! Agent Romanoff! Report!"

"Sir we're right here," Natasha made a small hand notion to direct Fury's attention towards herself and Clint who stood in the kitchen as the Director had rushed in. Clint was making pancakes at the demand of practically everyone in the tower and Natasha was doing her best to help.

"JARVIS gather the rest of the Avengers," it was evident by Nick Fury's tone of voice that he was not happy. He pointed at Natasha angrily but she wasn't prepared to crack just because her boss was in a bad mood. "You have got a lot of explaining to do and I suggest you don't skip around any questions because you're already in deeper water than you can handle."

Natasha and Clint put down the cutlery they were holding and moved into the sitting area to face Fury's anger. Soon they were joined by the rest of the Avengers, Tony looking particularly satisfied with himself which set off a lot of warning bells. They all took a seat with Fury standing where they all could see him, but his focus was directed at Natasha. Until his line of vision moved towards Tony.

"Didn't I tell you to secure this tower two days ago?" he demanded. "How did she get in?"

"I honestly cannot answer that question," Tony decided to be upfront. "They shut us down which was supposed to be impossible with the amount of encryption that was put in the system."

Fury growled and turned back to Natasha. "You are one of our most competent and reliable agents. I trust you with this case but if you can't convince Phoenix to stand down then we will have to take her down using any amount of firepower necessary."

"Like you did on the Pier, or when she broke into SHIELD?" Steve demanded. Clearly he didn't know SHIELD that well and suspected them to tell him everything. "You made no attempt to take her down then so why are you threatening to do it now? How come none of our guys ever even aimed a gun at her?"

The answer Steve received was both predictable but surprising at the same time. "You don't have the clearance for that knowledge Captain Rogers. That information is only for those with Level 8 clearance."

So there was more to Phoenix then SHIELD was letting on. Natasha knew better than to pry though, neither she nor Clint had any right to be asking questions. They were only Level 6 and the rest of the Avengers were only about Level 1. Fury was the only one in the room that had the clearance for that knowledge.

"Well I don't want any part in another SHIELD conspiracy theory," Bruce shook his head. "Last time that happened things got broken."

"What's so secretive about Phoenix anyway?" Tony questioned. "Is she an alien in disguise? A robot? We just don't know because the big bad men in black are running a covert operation and are refusing to share the information."

Fury ignored Stark and turned to Natasha once again. "You've got one more chance to bring her in. If she makes one more attack and she's not in chains by the end of it then I'm pulling you off the case and dropping a bomb on top of Phoenix the next time she resurfaces. This is her last chance, so don't waste it Agent Romanoff."

"I won't Sir," Natasha nodded. "I'll need access to the security mainframe of New York city and the surrounding areas. They'll be nearby and if they surface then I want to know straight away. She said she'll be back and she will, I want to be ready for that. It'll be her biggest attack yet."

"Done," Fury agreed. "Stark can I rely on you to create some gadgets that can help defend against these kids and their abilities?"

"Sure thing," Tony agreed. "I can make a giant water pistol and maybe line all of your uniforms with fire resistant material. As for the other kids I can put some infrared glasses together for the Invisible one and also the one that makes everything go black. No sure how we'll deal with super speed but I'll figure something out."

"Good, then do it," Fury nodded. "Doctor Banner I assume you will be joining him?"

"Yes sir," Bruce nodded.

"Agent Barton start preparing for possible scenarios, Captain Rogers you can help him," Fury turned to them next and allocated their duties. "Phoenix is coming back, that much was obvious from her little attack. If you ask me she was showing off. Trying to make you fear her and if you ask me you probably should be scared."

"How may I help?" Thor asked.

"Your buddy back on Asgard that can see everything, do you think maybe we could get his help?" Clint asked.

"Heimdall is not permitted to leave his post and if he was allowed to leave I doubt that he would wish to get involved with Earth matters anyhow," Thor replied.

"That's ok Strongman, I could use your help anyway lifting the heavy stuff for our giant water gun," Tony said brightly as Thor turned down Clint's idea.

"May I remind you Mr Stark that you are not doing this for fun," Fury sighed.

"Doesn't mean I can't make it fun," Tony responded with a smirk.


	17. The Moment

**A/N: The moment has come. Any Whovians here that get that reference? Well unfortunately this story has nothing to do with Doctor Who but it does involve our favourite heroes. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I wont give too much away, but you all wanted some Clintasha and here it is. If you love it, then make sure to read, review and enjoy. Btw I know practically nothing about archery.**

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Natasha walked slowly down the hallways of Stark Tower. She felt regret, regret for Phoenix. The girl had been tortured all her life, and everyone sees her as nothing. Legally on paper she doesn't even exist, not as what she is. Long ago she might have been an ordinary little girl, not anymore.

Natasha came to the lift and thought for a minute before walking inside. She pressed the button for the Training Room.

It wasn't just Phoenix though, it was her as well. Natasha knew exactly what Phoenix was dealing with, she had experienced it herself first-hand. She wanted to be able to give Phoenix a second chance, if she didn't get killed first. There was also a likely chance that SHIELD would interrogate her. The law doesn't apply towards Phoenix so they can do whatever they want to her, if they manage to catch her without killing her first.

Phoenix was ruthless and willing to do anything Doctor Blake told her. She wouldn't hesitate to attack and kill anyone that threatened her. Natasha was trying to work on something she could say to Phoenix to convince her of the truth. She could think of as many sentences as possible but none of them would be able to convince Phoenix.

The lift opened up onto the Training Room she heard the familiar thud of an arrow hitting a target. She hesitated, and then walked in. Clint was there with his bow firing arrows at the target in front of him like clockwork. Pause, draw, aim, pull and shoot, over and over again.

He saw her enter and stopped. They watched each other for a while. "Hey Nat," he greeted.

"Hi."

He shot an arrow while still watching her. "What are you doing?"

"Teach me how to fire an arrow."

He was about to fire an arrow and stopped. The words escaped Natasha's mouth before she could stop them. Never before had she ever wanted to learn archery, now she had nothing better to do. She wouldn't be able to save Phoenix, she needed a distraction, and this was the most viable option.

"You want to learn how to shoot an arrow?" he sounded sceptical.

"That's right."

He threw her his bow suddenly and without warning, she caught it, barely having to move. Natasha walked over and stood in front of the target. There were about 20 arrows lodged into the bullseye. Clint walked forward and yanked them all out and reloaded his quiver.

"By the way don't expect to get anywhere close to the target on the first try, this is harder than it looks," he said as he handed her an arrow and stood behind her. When she gave him a confused look he smirked. "I want to see you try and shoot an arrow before I show you how to do it properly."

Natasha grimaced. This shouldn't be too hard, she'd seen Clint fire an arrow many times before, but normally whenever he did she wasn't paying attention. She held up the bow with her left hand then she placed the arrow against the string. She tried to pull it back, but it nearly flicked her in the face. Clint snickered from behind her. She tried again and this time the arrow stayed put. She pulled back the string and tried to shoot; the arrow left the bow and went through the air lazily. It hit the target and lodged itself a little way outside the bullseye.

"Not bad for a first try," Clint commented from behind her. "You just need to hit the bullseye."

Natasha turned around and threw the bow back to Clint. "Show me."

He walked forward and stood in front of the target with his feet firmly planted. Slowly he drew an arrow from the quiver. He placed it against the bow and gripped the butt of the arrow as he pulled the string back. Natasha noticed how his muscles flexed as his grip tightened on the bow and a shiver unsuspectingly creeped up her spine. He released the arrow and it flew out of the bow and landed in the direct centre of the target.

He turned around, faced Natasha and bowed. "That is how you do it."

Clint passed the bow back to her and she took it. He stood close to her as she moved so she was directly in front of the target. Natasha put an arrow against the string and held the bow firm while she pulled it back. She hesitated and allowed Clint to correct her.

"Make sure you hold the bow firmly but relax as well," he put a hand to her right arm which was pulling back on the string. He moved to stand behind her. He put a hand on her stomach. "Take a deep breath in." She did, feeling his hand on her body the entire time.

He moved in closer and put his left hand over Natasha's and held the bow with her. He did the same with her right hand, which was pulling back on the string. She felt his body against her's and she suddenly regretted everything she had ever said about archery. The last thing she needed was Clint so close to her that she could feel his breath tickling down her neck. It sent another more violent shiver down her spine. Her heart was fluttering in her chest. What were the three signs of attraction again? Elevated pulse, pupils dilated, heart rate fast. Obviously Natasha couldn't see her own eyes, nor could she stop to take her pulse, but she knew, right at that moment, that she was showing all three signs.

"Make sure you shoot straight at the red," he whispered into her ear. Was it just her imagination or did it sound like he was trying to seduce her? It was probably her imagination. _God dammit Natasha get a grip, _she thought to herself. "When you release the arrow, breathe out," He whispered into her ear again.

She nodded and felt his hands guide hers into the correct position. She focused on the red and let go of the arrow, exhaling the deep breath she was holding in. The arrow shot out of the bow and lodged itself straight in the centre of the target.

Natasha felt triumphant but she knew the only reason she hit the target was because of Clint's help. Clint removed his hands away and let them drop at his side while Natasha let her shoulders relax and held the bow close to her. Natasha turned around to face her partner and suddenly noticed that Clint was still standing very close to her. In fact he hadn't even taken one step back. Apparently there was no such thing as personal space anymore. The worst thing was that Natasha didn't even care, in fact she wanted him even closer to her. Was that even possible considering there was only about an inch of space left between them.

She pushed the bow into his hands when she managed to stop staring at him. "Thank you Agent Barton," she said with the smallest hint of a seductive smirk. She cursed herself silently.

Clint happily took the bow and grabbed his quiver off his back. Natasha watched as he walked away towards the target to out the two arrows Natasha had fired. She followed him as he walked towards the seats. She sat down and watched him put his bow down and pack his quiver and arrows away into a bag. Once he finished packing up he took a seat next to Natasha.

"So," he began sounding far too serious for the following conversation to be a good one. "What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?"

"I honestly have no idea," Natasha responded truthfully. "I know how I want this to go down, but being realistic we have to look at the most likely possibility for what is going to happen. Tomorrow we're going to have to make some hard decisions and play some difficult cards."

"Honestly going up against teenagers is relatively easy, but I doubt many of our agents are going to have the guts to point their guns at a bunch of kids," Clint sighed. "I don't even know what the aim to their plan is. They know that if they want to go up against us they'll need more firepower then what they've got."

"They've got plenty of firepower," Natasha muttered angrily.

Clint looked at her curiously. It was very unlike the master spy to get so overemotional over a single person, especially an enemy. At first Clint had been ok with Natasha trying to help Phoenix, but now that the death toll was past a hundred, Phoenix had reached the point of no return. Clint felt that Natasha was fighting a losing battle.

So Clint did the stupid thing and opened his mouth.

"Nat," the tone of voice he used on her was soft and comforting, she looked up at him. "You can't let Phoenix effect you this much. I understand that what happened to her is tragic but she's not exactly innocent. She might look like a kid but she's not one, her mind is twisted and that makes her a threat. You can't really go around making friends with psychopaths. It ends badly Natasha you know that."

"No, don't you even try that with me," Natasha threatened. "Am I the only one that can see any hope in that girl? You all abandoned any efforts to help her long ago. Whatever happened to a second chance? Weren't you the one who told me to always have hope? What the hell happened to that? You're just a hypocrite and I'm not going to sit here and listen to your crap," she stood up from her seat and faced Clint with a menacing stare, he stood up as well to counter her and she jabbed a finger at him.

"You don't get to tell me anything. How many times do I need to stand up and defend myself because you all expect me to sit there and take everything you throw at me? I'm going to do whatever the hell I want and if that means saving Phoenix then you can be dammed well sure I'm going to do it and none of you are going to stand in my way. "

Natasha spun on her heels furiously and began to storm away in a violent rage. "Nat!" Clint shouted after her and chased her to try and stop her from walking away. "Nat! Natasha!" He caught up to her and grabbed her left wrist. This was an incredibly bad move.

The Black Widow twirled and elbowed him in the chest with her free arm while Clint held on desperately to her left wrist as he took a beating. She raised her right arm to strike and he grabbed her right wrist as well. Now they were facing each other, Clint holding her arms up in the air above their heads. Clint however had put himself in a very vulnerable position because Natasha was completely free to do whatever she wanted to him with her legs. Clint looked down at Natasha's knee, then back up at her. She was narrowing her eyes at him. That was never a good sign.

Clint made a good call by jumping back out of the firing line as Natasha's knee aimed upwards just missing Clint's most sensitive area. He winced at how close she had been to actually getting him. "Natasha! Will you just stop for one second?" he begged her desperately.

She said nothing and began storming away again. So Clint decided to make another idiotic move and chased after her again, but this time he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her backwards. It was possibly one of the stupidest things ever to occur in the history of mankind.

He realised his mistake at the last minute and let go of her waist but it was too late. She grabbed his hands in a death grip and jumped off the ground, lunging her legs back towards him and kicking him squarely in the stomach. She let go of his hands at the very last minute and glared at him as he fell backwards and hit the ground.

He picked himself up off the ground and went after Natasha again, but he didn't grab her this time, which was pretty much the only half intelligent thing he had done all day. "Natasha come on," he begged her again. "You know I didn't mean it like that. You're overreacting"

"Overreacting?" she repeated his words angrily.

"Wait no, I mean you're taking this the wrong way," Clint made a lame attempt to cover up his mistakes.

"So then I'm just crazy?" she demanded as she jabbed the button to the lift.

"I never said that!" Clint shouted as he started to get incredibly frustrated. Natasha was impossible to argue with.

The lift opened and Natasha stepped inside. Clint ran after her and got into the lift just before the doors closed. "Natasha just listen," Clint reasoned with her. She refused to look at him and faced the other direction with her arms crossed. "I never said you couldn't save her. I just said that Phoenix isn't who you think she is. Convincing her to switch sides would be nearly impossible."

"What about me?" Natasha demanded whirling her head around to face him with an angry glare. "I was just like Phoenix, I was brainwashed to kill people and I did exactly that. Why are you telling me that it's not worth the effort to convince her otherwise? You convinced me didn't you? You saved me all those years ago. So what made me different? Why me and why not Phoenix?"

"Nat I," Clint started.

"Answer the question."

Natasha was standing directly in front of them, Clint could nearly see the anger radiating off her. Somehow, even when angry, she still looked beautiful. Natasha Romanoff, the master spy who does things her way and doesn't let anyone mess with her. The genius, the spy, the Black Widow. Clint Barton was an idiot, he knew that. He was a fool. He had fallen for Natasha Romanoff. Of all the stupid things he had done in the past half an hour, what he did next was worthy of a freaking trophy.

He pulled Natasha forward and kissed her.

He was kissing Natasha Romanoff.

And she was kissing him back.

Both of their eyes were closed and no matter how much they knew what they were doing was wrong, they had to smile because it felt exactly right. Neither of them had ever wanted anyone more. Pressed up against each other, they could feel each other's hearts thudding in their chests. They went on kissing, they didn't even have any idea that they were smiling.

As he got caught up in the moment he slowly moved his arms down her back and wrapped them around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck. They were kissing a lot more fiercely now. Clint stepped backwards and hit the wall of the lift while both assassins were pressed up against each other.

Heat radiated between their bodies and a rush of adrenaline climbed through Natasha's body as she felt the burn of his lips. They'd kissed before of course, but never with so much passion. Natasha loved every minute of it. Even if it was just a simple kiss, there was a hidden ferocity behind.

Who knows how long that kiss lasted for? With both assassins lost in the moment they lost all control of their moral compasses and forgot their boundaries.

Neither of them wanted to break the kiss, but they did need to breathe. They snapped apart at exactly the same time, gasping for air. The door to the lift opened and they stood, on either side of the lift, far apart, watching each other with unblinking and shocked stares.

The realisation dawned on them. What they had just done was so far against the rules if anyone found out the consequences would get them both thrown out of SHIELD without a second thought. With the buzz of the kiss still playing across their lips the assassins couldn't even form words.

Natasha stepped out of the lift first and walked fast down the hallway towards her room. She practically yanked the door open and then slammed it closed behind her. Clint cursed himself angrily as he got out of the lift and looked at the wall in front of him like he wanted to punch it.

"Trouble in paradise?" Tony asked as he appeared around the corner and walked towards him with a drink in hand.

"Go to hell Stark," Clint muttered as he stalked off towards his own room, leaving Tony behind him laughing.


	18. The Attack

**A/N: There's a lot going on in this chapter so make sure you keep up, stuff happens very quickly. This story is nearing it's end with only three more chapters to go, I hope you've all liked it but I'll save the rest of the farewell speech for the last chapter. For now, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Natasha refused to look at him. She was still mad because of last night. Damn freaking Clint Barton, why did he have to be so irritating? Why did Natasha have to be so stupid? She was still coming down from the rush of adrenaline she got last night, all that just from being kissed by one person.

All of the Avengers sat on the couch wallowing in a pit of self-depression as they waited for news on Phoenix's imminent attack. Tony had set up JARVIS's system to track all the security cameras in the surrounding area so they could spot Phoenix straight away.

Natasha sat as far away from Clint as she could.

The silence was broken by a status report from the AI, and it wasn't good news.

"Sir I've got a visual on the hostile Phoenix, she is travelling in a black van with the rest of Doctor Blake's experiments," JARVIS told them. "Her current route is randomised, which I believe is a strategy to stop us from being able to pinpoint where she is heading. All I can calculate is that she is heading in a general North-West direction."

"What's North-West from here?" Tony asked.

His question was directed at Jarvis but Natasha and Clint had the answer. "SHIELD," they spoke simultaneously and glanced at each other only briefly.

"We must go there," Thor said.

"We don't know whether or not she is heading for SHIELD. For all we know she could be trying to lead us on that she's headed to SHIELD, and then swing back around and attack the tower when she knows we're vulnerable," Natasha protested. "We don't know what's vertical and what's horizontal with this girl anymore."

"This girl's MO is to take down people she sees as a threat right?" Banner asked and everyone nodded. "I think what she's betting on is that we will go after her and try and stop her. We are her target, but by attacking SHIELD she's killing two birds with one stone. Take us both out at the same time."

"Then I guess we're going to have to stop her," Tony said.

"Suit up!" Steve shouted.

Once they were equipped with all their weapons the Avengers made their way up to the roof of the tower where the jet was waiting for them. Natasha and Clint took the two pilot's seats in the jet, Bruce and Steve joined them in the jet and held on tight as they prepared for take-off. Tony put his helmet on and then activated his suit and shot out in front of them. Thor started spinning his hammer and then took off after Tony into the sky, just as the jet lifted itself off the ground.

When they were almost there Bruce spoke up. "You know SHIELD is only about five minutes away from Stark Tower, we could've taken the car," he pointed out.

"Jet's faster," Clint replied. "We need to make sure we get there before Phoenix does."

"Stark what's your position?" Natasha asked over the radio.

"I am just approaching SHIELD now," Tony replied. "It looks pretty quiet so far. Jarvis is tracking Phoenix at the moment. You've got about two minutes before she gets here. I'll get Jarvis to send you through her position. She's not really moving fast. I don't think she knows we've spotted her yet."

A layout of the streets of Manhattan appeared on Natasha's screen. There was a glowing red dot moving straight down a road that would take her straight to SHIELD. Natasha pulled up another map that showed Phoenix's position in comparison to theirs. She gasped.

"Clint," she turned to him. "Phoenix is right below the jet."

"Shit!" he swore. "Has she seen us?"

Natasha glanced out the window and saw the black van moving below them. She also saw the small figure with red hair leaning out of the window with her hands raised. "She's on your 2 o'clock. Move!" Natasha shouted a warning.

"Hold on!" Clint told them. He turned the wheel making the whole plane lean to the left. Steve and Bruce nearly crashed into the sides. A huge jet of flame only just bypassed the right wing. Natasha's eyes widened at the sight of it and Clint moved them further away.

"Um was that?" Steve asked.

"Phoenix," Natasha answered.

"What the hell?" Clint asked as his screen switched off. Natasha's did the same as well. The lights on the switches and dials that worked the jet went dark. Natasha frantically tapped them and turned dials in an attempt to get them to switch back on. "I'm flying blind here," Clint said.

"Are we going to crash?" Bruce asked calmly.

"No," Clint replied as he tried to flip more switches. "But our navigations systems are down, weapons are offline and we can't turn on our screens. The only thing that's operational is…" he checked systems and then sighed in annoyance. "Is the steering wheel."

"The plane flies, but that's all it can do. We don't know where we're going and we've lost Phoenix. I don't think she's trying to kill us though. I think she's just disabling us. Trying to get to SHIELD before we do," Natasha said as Clint steered the jet back on course. "We've got the advantage because Phoenix has to take the road, but she's got a GPS, we don't."

"How the hell did she do that? She can't control planes," Clint muttered.

"She's also not the only one of the Doctor's teenagers with superpowers Agent Barton," Bruce reminded him.

"That's not important right now. Aren't you guys SHIELD agents?" Steve asked. "You should know where you're going."

"We do know where we're going, but we don't know where Phoenix is and radios are down which means we have no idea what's going on," Natasha told him.

"There's SHIELD now," Clint pointed to the building they were currently approaching. "I'm gonna land her on the roof, and once we're out of the jet the signals will be back and we'll be able to use our radios again."

"Barton, go down to the bottom floors with Banner. Meet up with Thor and try and do whatever you can to stop them getting in," Steve told him as the plane made its descent. "Natasha, we'll meet up with Stark and take the top floors. We'll be the last line of defence."

The plane landed and the hatch opened. They all ran out and Natasha went straight for her radio. "Stark, Thor, we're here, what's going on?" she asked.

There was static until Tony's voice came through. "I'm downstairs at the moment. Non-essential personnel are getting out. I don't know if we're going to get people out in enough time. Phoenix is getting closer, ETA one minute."

"I am with Stark at the base of the building," Thor told them.

"Ok Stark get up here, we need you," Natasha told him.

Natasha looked at Clint one last time. She wanted to say goodbye. Hell she wanted to run up to him and plant a huge kiss on his lips like last night. But she didn't. He looked back at her and then nodded and followed Bruce down the stairs. Natasha took in a deep breath, it was time.

* * *

Doctor Blake sat in the back of the black van he had procured for the occasion. There was one man that worked for him driving. Phoenix sat in the passenger's side seat, keeping an eye on the skies. In the back with him were the four other subjects, they sat on the opposite side of the van. They were scared, but after the victory today, there would be no fear left.

"Very clever my dear," he praised Phoenix as she commanded Samuel Lidsdale to turn of the navigational systems in the jet. "That should keep them thinking we are trying to slow them down for a while. I would recommend going over the plan once more for the sake of our friends here, just as a reminder."

"Alright listen up!" Phoenix raised her voice to catch the attention of the other teenagers in the van. "Today we'll be attacking SHIELD and murdering as many of those aseholes as we can. The Avengers are already on their way there. Please try not to kill them right away. Leave that part to us. Now our plan of attack goes like this. Sam," she pointed at Samuel. "The minute this van stops you shut out all the power in that building. Cut off all the electricity."

"Then Mark and Josh," she pointed at Marcus Winters and Joshua Smith. "You're going in there first. Josh, you go straight down to the basement and pull the lockdown switch. That way we can pick them off easier. Mark, you'll be covering him, take out anyone that points a gun at either of you. Sam, after the lockdown starts you'll follow the two boys in and join them in holding off any SHIELD agents that come at you."

All of them nodded.

"After that the rest of us will be going in. Bella," she pointed at Isabella Mason. A young girl who could control shadows and manipulate darkness. She was quite skilled in creating a black mist that could seep in anywhere and plunge everything into the dark. "You'll be with me. We're going to flank the Doctor and make our way past the bottom floors. Once we're in the lift, you'll be joining the other three and keep everyone downstairs occupied."

Then Phoenix held up a radio device for all of them to see. "I have it on good authority that Captain America, Tony Stark and Agent Romanoff will be on the tops floors. That means Agent Barton, Thor and the Hulk will be on the bottom floors," she informed them.

"You want us to take on the Hulk?" Mark asked.

"Don't provoke him," Phoenix clarified. "Just avoid him and if he runs at you, hide."

The van pulled up at the side of SHIELD. Phoenix nodded at Sam whose eyes closed. It took him longer than with the jet because he had to shut down the power of a whole building rather than a small aircraft, but he accomplished the feat and his eyes flew open.

Phoenix pulled open the door. "Go!" she shouted. Josh was the first out and they caught one look at him before his power took over and he became invisible. Mark went after him like a blur as he smashed open the doors by ramming straight into them. He blurred away again and they lost sight of them.

They heard the alarm loud and clear. Phoenix shoved Sam who snapped to attention and ran inside. Then Phoenix herself jumped out and helped the Doctor. Bella came out last and sped up to reach Phoenix. The two girls walked in front of the Doctor and guided him into the building.

It was chaos the minute they entered. Lightning bolts of pure electricity were appearing out of nowhere as Sam sat positioned in the corner of the room taking out as many agents as possible. Thor and The Hulk were nowhere in sight, but loud noises from the basement gave a hint to their location.

Phoenix heard a whoosh near her right ear and spun to the right, holding up her hands and aiming a jet of fire at the arrow that was directed at Doctor Blake. Agent Barton was perched up high with his bow and arrow waiting for the Doctor to enter. Phoenix smiled at him, the smile turned to an evil grin.

"Oh shit!" Clint exclaimed.

Flames erupted and spiralled around Phoenix's arms, she spun and the flames lifted off her arms and struck the spot where Clint had attempted to kill her master, but Clint had moved too quickly and avoided the attack. Phoenix moved for another attack, but the Doctor touched her arm lightly and drew her away.

They moved through the room. Phoenix attacked any Agents that approached them and Bella gave them cover as her dark mist clouded around anyone that tried to approach. They reached a sealed door that had been closed in the lockdown.

Phoenix blew it open without much effort.

Then they reached the lift which Phoenix prised open. Bella gave them one last look and hesitated, until Phoenix glared at her and she ran back to where the main fighting was, in fear. The Doctor entered the lift first and Phoenix was about to enter when Clint rounded the corner and fired an arrow.

Phoenix burned it to ashes without much effort. "You are really starting to annoy me."

He moved towards her and hit her across the face with the side of his bow. She outstretched her palm, a jet of fire shot out and he moved just in time to avoid it. His bow came down to hit her but she ducked and then her right leg shot upwards and she kicked him in his right side. He quickly drew an arrow from his quiver and jabbed her in the stomach. It barely broke the skin and grazed her lightly, but it was enough to drip blood. She lifted her fist which erupted into flames, she punched him in the face and he went backwards. There was a fair distance between them now.

Doctor Blake sighed and pressed a button in the lift. "Kill him if you must," he told Phoenix as the doors started closing. "Just meet me upstairs when you're finished."

Phoenix watched as the lift closed and then she turned and looked directly at Clint.

* * *

Natasha made her way towards a separate room near the stairwell entrance, waiting for Phoenix or Doctor Blake to appear. The lockdown had stopped just a few seconds earlier, which allowed Natasha to patrol the hallways again. She decided to stop near the stairway entrance because the lifts were already covered.

She waited, a hand on her radio waiting for any news. Eventually she heard a voice, but it wasn't good news. "Uh we've got a problem," Stark said over the radio. "Either Thor has gone over to their side and turned into a teenager, or they've got a kid in the foyer that can shoot lightning."

"Head down there and try and stop him," Steve ordered over the radio.

"And see if you can get a visual on Phoenix," Natasha added.

"Understood."

There was more radio silence, until the voice she had been most anxious to hear spoke. "Phoenix, Doctor Blake and another girl are making their way to the lifts," Clint reported. "I'm going after them. We gotta try and stop them from making their way up to the top floors. I'm close. Barton out."

Natasha bit her lip and continued to listen for anymore news. Minutes passed, Natasha counted them. Three minutes and the stairwell burst open. Phoenix walked out seeming pleased about something. Natasha kept quiet and waited for her to pass. Then she quietly followed after her. She stood out of sights as Phoenix talked to someone over a handheld radio, but Natasha couldn't hear what was being said.

Phoenix reattached the radio to her belt and continued walking, Natasha continued to follow her. Where on Earth was she going? She made a sharp left turn into one of the meeting rooms, she moved quickly, and closed the door behind her. Suspicion getting the better of her, Natasha followed her with her gun raised.

When she entered, she saw Phoenix waiting for her with her arms by her side. Next to Phoenix was Doctor Blake, who stood over a chair with a tight grip on the shoulder of the person tied to it. Steve looked up at her from the chair as if to say, "Sorry I got caught."

It was the first time Natasha had officially seen Doctor Blake and his ordinary appearance was off-putting. Surely a man as horrible as that couldn't look like any old pharmacist. Mad scientists were supposed to have grey spikey hair and goggles on top of their head. Doctor Blake looked too simple.

Phoenix directed Natasha's attention back to her as she smirked. She pointed to the gun that Natasha kept raised and aimed at Phoenix. "Are you really going to use that on me Agent Romanoff? You've hesitated before, what's to say you won't do it again."

"Doesn't mean I can't shoot him," Natasha moved her gun until it was pointing at Doctor Blake.

Phoenix reacted viciously and instantaneously by setting the gun that Natasha held in her hands on fire and the superspy was forced to drop it as she felt the flame melting the skin off her hands. Phoenix picked up the discarded weapon and pulled it apart, tossing the pieces to either side of the room.

"Phoenix!" Doctor Blake barked at her as she went to move closer to Natasha, probably going for another attack. When Doctor Blake told her off Phoenix lowered her head and backed away, almost like she'd been slapped. "Tie her up," the Doctor commanded.

Phoenix nodded and quickly moved over to Natasha, grabbing her hands and dragging her to an empty seat next to the Captain. Natasha didn't defend herself because she was intent on seeing where all of this was going. There was a reason Doctor Blake was keeping them alive and she was determined to discover what.

"Go and patrol the corridors," The Doctor instructed Phoenix once she was finished making sure Natasha was secured to the chair. "Kill as many SHIELD grunts as you want. If you encounter any agents with level 7 or higher clearance you know what to do."

Phoenix seemed to almost bow as she silently agreed to the Doctor's orders and walked out of the room, locking the door behind her once she closed it. Now Natasha and Steve were all alone with a madman. He kept a gun pointed at them but Natasha wasn't trying to get away. At least not yet. First she would have to interrogate him.


	19. The Truth

**A/N: Ok I suppose I should put a warning in here because I'm paranoid, it get's kind of a bit extreme in this chapter but I'm sure most of you don't care about violence so never mind me. Anyway it's just this chapter and then two more and then it's all over. Well not completely but we'll talk more about that later. As always my beautiful readers, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Steve could hear Natasha's steady calm breathing from next to him as they were tied up side by side in front of Doctor Blake, who had immediately become infatuated with Steve once Phoenix had left the room, making it hard for Natasha to get in and ask questions. After the Doctor calmed down from his sudden meeting with Captain America he became more serious.

"Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, you are here for one reason only," the Doctor spread his arms around the room like a preacher declaring his love for God. "The world is to be saved."

"How will you save us?" Natasha asked. Her eyes were wide, vacant and strangely compelling. For a second Steve wondered if there was something wrong, until it clicked into place. Natasha was acting, playing the Doctor to his one weakness. It was absolutely genius.

Doctor Blake began to pace up and down slowly as if he was giving a lecture in a University classroom. "We are but simpletons with a false sense of the world. Our age is our undoing for we have seen too many things with our eyes to remain uncompromised by the horrors our civilisation contains. That is when I had my idea. Why not start with those who have not been exposed, those that are still innocent. Children possess the correct manipulable mindset, and growing hormones and chemicals in their body to make the serum work. "

Doctor Blake continued as Natasha kept playing her act.

"With my perfected serum, first I will destroy SHIELD, then America, then the rest of the world. A small amount will come out alive. I do need subjects for my experiments you know. I am almost ready to take the next step from my children and begin injecting adults.

"Adults?" Natasha questioned in a light and oddly gentle tone.

"What you thought that I would take over the world with six children?" Doctor Blake scoffed. "No, that would be crazy. Humanity would never benefit with children as warriors. Especially not those children, they are snivelling messes of fear. Once they have served their purpose I will dispose of them."

Steve looked at him curiously, forgetting for a second that it would be better for everyone if Natasha did the questioning. "What about Phoenix?" he asked. "She's not a snivelling mess of fear, she's following your every order. She's committing murder for you."

"Phoenix?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.

* * *

Clint made his way up the stairwell quickly and quietly, chasing after Phoenix who had dashed for the door immediately after Doctor Blake had headed upstairs in the elevator. For some odd reason she had spared him, but she had also barricaded the door to the stairwell to slow him down.

As Clint climbed up floor after floor his thoughts went to Natasha. Last night's kiss had left him in a rush but he felt like an idiot. Falling for a world class assassin, what was he thinking? But last night, she had been kissing him back, so maybe he wasn't completely crazy. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to keep his mouth shut. He was going to explain everything in full detail to the Black Widow and then hope that she wouldn't slap him or slit his throat.

He reached one of the top floors where he could see that the door had been kicked in, all signs were pointing to Phoenix, it was his best possible bet. He swung it opened and walked slowly down the hallways, turning to look behind his back every so often to check that he wasn't being followed. His bow was at the ready and he still had most of his arrows.

A small noise from ahead indicated that someone had just opened a door, Clint quietly rushed forward just in time to see Phoenix exiting one of the meeting rooms and closing the door behind her. Clint saw his chance and took it, running forward and grabbing Phoenix. One arm around her neck and holding her hands behind her back with the other, he pressed her against the wall.

"Don't make a move," he threatened.

He felt Phoenix's throat move as she made a small noise that resembled laughter, nervous but cocky. "Agent Barton," Phoenix mused. "Got me by the throat I see."

"Alright Phoenix I'm done playing gentle and understanding," there was only one possible way this idea could work, but Clint was going for it anyway. "You weren't born with magic powers; Doctor Blake gave them to you and the other five kids. You're a lab experiment that he's brainwashed into a guard dog. You need to fight it and see the truth."

"I will never believe your lies," she hissed.

"No, but you will believe your Master," Clint pressed Phoenix's ear up to the door where she could hear the sounds of muffled conversation between Doctor Blake, Captain America and Natasha. Clint's heart started running a marathon at the sound of her voice and relief flooded him for a second at the knowledge that she was alive.

* * *

"You think I am going to let Phoenix live?" The Doctor asked with more disbelief. "The only reason I kept her alive was because she was my first success. She was the only one that survived and developed anything from the serum," The Doctor laughed. "She was so pathetic. For years I unlocked her power out of anger and pain. Under the influence of torture Phoenix developed greatly."

Natasha felt vomit rising in her mouth but she fought it down, widening her eyes and looking up at Doctor Black with what she knew was her best angelic face. He might've been a mad scientist but like most men he was quick to assume that Natasha was innocent, and she played with that stupidity like a toy.

"If you tortured her for that long why didn't she kill you?" Steve asked, disgusted. Natasha fought down the urge to shoot him a glare, if he took a wrong move Doctor Blake could lose it, especially if any words of discouragement came from Captain America, who he was oddly obsessed with.

"All that time she was under my influence. She obeyed my every word, because I told her I would keep her safe from the people in the outside world that hated her and wanted to see her dead, because she was different. The things that girl would believe. All she ever wanted to do was please me. The perfect attack dog. But she is too difficult, too savage. Controlling her is getting to be more and more of an effort."

The Doctor still held the gun pointed at both Natasha and Steve, but Natasha could dodge any attack easy, it was clear from the way he held the small firearm that he wasn't very experienced. The way he spoke, it was like he was giving a lecture, or teaching a class. Natasha wondered if this was the real reason Phoenix obeyed his words, because he spoke like everything he said was perfectly sane.

"She will always obey me until the day she dies, which will be very soon now that I think about it," the Doctor began to act like he was talking to himself. "I've been thinking it over for many years, how I'm going to kill her. It only just occurred to me a short while ago that I need to fight fire with fire. I think a large industrial sized furnace will do the trick. Even if the fire doesn't burn her to ash, if she's locked in there long enough starvation will finish her off."

"I've been thinking it over for many years, how I'm going to kill her."

* * *

Phoenix's ears were ringing. She felt like throwing up. It couldn't be true, it had to be a trick. The Doctor would never do that to her. He told her that they would rule the world together. She was the Phoenix, she was going to be the new symbol for humanity. She was the perfect soldier. He wouldn't kill her.

She pushed Clint away and surprisingly he let her go. He didn't matter anyway; he was just another SHIELD agent. What did he matter? It couldn't real, but it was. Anger flamed within her like the fire she unconsciously formed in her right hand. Somehow she managed to keep listening.

* * *

"You're a sick man," Steve beyond disgust now, Natasha could tell that easily. "You took an innocent girl and broke her. Twisted her into a monstrosity."

He looked hurt. "I did it for you Captain," he said. "I did not break Phoenix, I did not twist her. I made her beautiful. I stripped her of the typical human instincts that destroyed our world. I made her perfect. I made her too perfect. If she had not been given the serum she would be nothing, simply ordinary. She is a goddess amongst the regular people out there. She believes in the cause, because I taught her right and crafted her mind to believe in the truth. She is like a child to me."

"Last time I checked parents didn't plan to kill their children," Natasha said bitterly, she was done playing nice. She'd heard all she needed to hear.

"She has served her purpose. She is nothing to me now," the Doctor waved off the comment. "She will die as she lived, under my orders.

* * *

Pain. That was all Phoenix saw. Her history was flashing before her. The first time the Doctor had laid her on that table and hurt her, all the while whispering his lies into her ear. He told her it was all for the better, that it would make her great. She had believed him, why had she believed him. It hurt, it hurt so much. She was nothing, an empty hollow shell. Everything in the world was dead to her. Her beliefs, her orders, the cause she served, they all crumbled from her mind like a falling wall. Her thoughts ripped themselves apart as she processed the words she heard.

"She will die as she lived, under my orders."

Anger, there was only anger left. A horrible boiling erupting in the pit of her stomach, creeping its way into her mind. He lied to her. He had always lied to her. She was different, because of him. He made her into what she was. All the years of torture piled themselves all into one all-consuming memory that left nothing but rage behind. She was shaking, she felt it. She pulled her ear away from the door. She faced it now. She could just picture him, standing over her, telling her everything would be ok.

"No," she hissed.

Phoenix thrust her palms forward and blew open the door with fire. The rage building up in her mind hit boiling point.

And then it snapped like a rubber band.

A scream, it was coming from her mouth. There was something on her skin, it was fire. That shouldn't have been on her skin. She was running now fast, heading right for him. He saw her and in his eyes she saw her own reflection. She looked mad. She looked very mad. There was fire, everywhere. It was pretty.

Her hands were around his neck, and she was lifting him. It was wondrous, she was so strong. This was fun. She saw him, he was scared. Mommy always said it's ok to be scared. But who was Mommy? She didn't know. That was strange. What was her name? She didn't know. Where was she? She didn't know. Everything was blank, that didn't seem right. There was that man again. Looking at her in fear. Who was he, and why was she holding him by his neck. Oh that's right. She remembered now. She was going to kill him.

The rubber band in her mind snapped once again.

Phoenix held him by his neck she was snarling, hissing. There was fire all around her. She was angry, she wanted him dead, he had to die. She looked him directly in the eye. She felt the fire as she continued looking him in the eye. She willed it to rise, to consume. But to kill him quickly would be too kind.

Phoenix felt the fire erupting inside his body, she felt it wrapping around his organs, burning him. Strike your enemies not only in their body, but in their heart and mind. Do this and they will fall. She did exactly that. It's hard not to fall when your heart and brain were on fire. He looked at her one last time. He tried to speak but couldn't, he had no vocal cords anymore. She had burned them to dust.

"You will die as you lived," she told him. "A failure."

Just like that he turned into an inferno in front of her eyes. He was burning. Phoenix did not laugh. She did not even smile. She only watched. When the fire faded, it danced back across her arms until it stopped. Then there was nothing.

He was gone. There wasn't even a body. The fire took everything leaving nothing but ash. She sunk to her knees and sat there. Nothing better to do. He was dead. Phoenix was finished.

* * *

The minute Phoenix had sprinted into the room Natasha had started undoing the bindings that kept her tied to the chair and once she'd finished she did the same to Steve, looking up just in time to see the human shape that had once been Doctor Blake crumble to dust.

For a second she had stood there, until she looked around the room and spotted him at the door. She rushed towards him immediately and for one second she forgot everything else. She threw her arms around his neck and he put one arm around her waist. The hug only lasted a second but Natasha still felt as though she had crossed a line.

She noticed that he looked down at his feet and then looked back at her, making eye contact. It wasn't ordinary eye contact though, Natasha could see something more. He opened his mouth and then shut it again. She titled her head and looked at him, confused in his change of behaviour. She sensed what was coming when he gently held her wrist and looked her in the eye again. Natasha felt her heart beating in her chest and for a second she was worried someone might hear it, it felt so loud.

"Natasha about last night," he started. "Listen I…"

"Not here," Natasha cut him off as she glanced around and saw Steve slowly approaching Phoenix who sat on her knees in front of the ashen remains of her once master.

They were joined shortly after by Director Fury and a whole squad of SHIELD agents in full gear, Natasha and Clint approached the Director and quickly told him the whole story, switching between their different experiences every so often. Phoenix was taken away and the dust was cleaned up just before the rest of the Avengers came across the scene. Natasha and Clint told their story and then Tony told them theirs.

"The minute Phoenix and Doctor Blake went upstairs the kids surrendered," Tony told them. "Hands up, down on their knees, the whole shebang. Heather was right about one thing at least, none of them wanted any part in this. Fury's gonna release them as soon as SHIELD finishes interviewing them."

"What of Phoenix?" Thor asked.

"I'll make sure that SHIELD does everything in their power to help her," Natasha remained adamant. "Hopefully now that she knows the truth we might be able to find out who the real Phoenix is."


	20. The Chance

**A/N: Ok Ladies and gentlemen I'm uploading two at a time here, so it's this chapter which is technically the last chapter and then the epilogue. The reason I'm uploading two is because I'm going on holiday tomorrow so I think it's best if I get it done before I go. I'll talk more in the next chapter. For now, read, review and enjoy. **

* * *

"Has she said anything?"

"No Sir, not since we brought her in."

Nick Fury watched as the hostile individual known as Phoenix, sat in her prison room. It was a plain grey tiled room with nothing but a table and two chairs, it was almost identical to the charred room she had escaped from several days ago. On the opposite wall there was a two way mirror where Director Fury watched as Phoenix sat silently on one of the chairs, faced towards him but keeping her head down.

He had been watching her for several minutes now and she had not moved a single inch. Less than twenty four hours ago she had killed the man who had made her what she was. The best Fury could tell was that she was in a state of shock or was suffering from some kind of depression.

The only way to really find out what was going on was to talk to her.

Fury nodded to two agents before entering the room. "You've made quite a name for yourself," Fury said as he walked in. It was obvious Phoenix was listening, but she didn't look at him. "I don't think I've ever met a young girl with quite your skill set." He sat down opposite her. "It's really too bad that you've put me in this position."

Her watched as Phoenix didn't make a single move. Her fingers tapped on the table slowly. Director Fury leaned forward. "You see Phoenix you have done a lot of damage. You're unpredictable, uncontrollable and frankly you're a psychopath."

Still no movement from Phoenix, expect for the slow tapping of her fingers on the table. It was a sign of partial comatose. Which wasn't surprising considering everything that had happened to her. A vacant look was clear in her eyes as she continued to stare at one spot on the table in front of her.

"I've had a discussion with my superiors," he started, knowing that if he rose his voice Phoenix could snap. "You're a highly exceptional individual with unique skills and a good knowledge of combat techniques. We could use more people like you."

For the first time since she had been brought in Phoenix looked up and looked him in the eye. "Are you offering me a position at SHIELD Director?" Phoenix asked. Her voice was soft and cracked, sounding like someone had jammed something down her throat.

"If you're willing to take it," he replied.

Phoenix leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. There was no longer a cocky stance in her eyes, instead there was pain and suffering. "No," she replied curtly. "I will not join SHIELD. That is my answer, take it and go."

"You only have two options," Fury put his hands on the table and met her gaze. "Either you accept SHIELD's offer or you refuse, and we lock you away in one of our most secure facilities where you will never see the light of day again."

"I don't want either option," Phoenix shook her head slowly.

The Director said nothing. He stood up and moved towards the door. This girl was too smart for her own good. Not to mention far too calm. What was her game? Was she hoping to make a daring escape at the last minute? It didn't seem likely to the Director. She had only one motive left for refusing the offer, and it wasn't a good option.

"You've got exactly 24 hours to change your mind," he told her as he walked out.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" she demanded standing up and running to the two way mirror. She banged on it hard and fast. The Director was suspicious at the sudden loss of her calm manner. He moved closer to watch her. All traces of a smirk where gone. "Kill me now! Kill me! Please just kill me!" she was shouting now. Her voice was raised and panicked. "KILL ME!"

He walked away from the viewing room, leaving Phoenix to beg for her death alone.

* * *

"She still hasn't changed her mind," Natasha paced up and down the hallway she waited in. Steve sat on one of the chairs. She appreciated the company but she had a feeling that he wasn't here for her. He blamed himself for what Doctor Blake had done to Phoenix and the others. Natasha disagreed, but she was too concerned about Phoenix to give support to the Captain. "It's been too long already. She's running out of time, I need to see her."

"You need to calm down," Steve tried to reassure her. "You're not doing her any good by freaking out."

"Yeah well I'm not doing her any good by sitting out here either," she snapped. "God dammit where the hell is Fury?"

"He'll show up."

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers," the Director entered the hallway as if hearing his own name. Natasha noticed that it made the Captain slightly curious, but she was used to the suspicious behaviour of her boss. "Agent Romanoff, if you want to talk to Phoenix I will allow it."

"You want me to come in as well?" the Captain asked.

"Go right ahead," he stepped aside and motioned to the door he had just exited out of.

They walked inside and saw a small control room with a door that led into another room. There were monitors on the right and three chairs positioned in front of a two way mirror. Through the mirror they saw Phoenix sitting at a silver table. She wasn't tied up or chained.

Phoenix sat with her head bowed and she fidgeted with her hands. She looked annoyed or angry. More than anything she looked like she wasn't up for a fight, an argument perhaps, but it was clear she had no intention of escape. It made Natasha sick just thinking about it.

"I should warn you that she's not exactly in the best of moods," Fury told them as he led them to the door that would take them to Phoenix's room.

Phoenix glanced up when they entered but her face showed no emotion. Her eyes followed them as Natasha and Steve sat down across from her. She looked at them expectantly. Natasha could she that Phoenix wasn't even trying to put on her act.

Natasha was the first to speak. "You've got a death wish," she said. "That much is obvious. What I really want to know is why you've got a death wish. You've already proven that you can escape from here without much effort. You've found out the truth about Doctor Blake, if wanted to you could live a normal life. So why don't you?"

Natasha waited for an answer, but she didn't get one. Phoenix kept her silence. She looked tired, like she was finished with the world. Natasha realised she didn't need Phoenix to talk, to figure out why she wanted death. She could see it spread all across her body language like graffiti.

"You think you've got nothing to live for," Natasha concluded. Phoenix still remained silent. "You'd be surprised how much there is to live for actually. You could join SHIELD. You could have a life. It would give you a chance to save yourself and you would be helping people."

"That's what he said to me," Phoenix spoke softly and quietly, it made it look like she hadn't smiled her whole life. She stared at the table; she didn't seem to be focusing on anything in particular, only her own thoughts. "He told me that we were saving people. That everything we were doing to take down the government would save the world. He lied."

"Do you want the truth?" Natasha asked. "You only know the lies, not what really happened. Would you like to know?"

"How can I trust you to tell the truth?" Phoenix asked bitterly.

"We've told the truth so far haven't we?" Natasha answered a question with a question and Phoenix gave no response except for a small nod.

So Natasha told her everything, skipping no details in the story. Natasha told Phoenix everything, from what the Avengers had experienced at her hand to the log book that Natasha had found on Doctor Blake's property. With every word Phoenix nodded, surprisingly understanding everything Natasha told her. Once Natasha had finished Phoenix went quiet.

"Subject 7?" She spoke quietly. "So there were 6 others before me that Doctor Blake killed?"

"We think so," Natasha replied and Phoenix looked down at her hands in anguish.

"What good would I be to SHIELD? Heather was right I am a monster and the only thing I'm good for is following orders. Why can't you just let me die?"

"I understand how you're feeling Phoenix but you can't just give up."

"You don't understand," she hissed while scoffing. "Doctor Blake taught me everything I know, he was my Master. No matter what he said you can't take that from me. I know what SHIELD really is. You're no better than him. You might be playing the hero Natasha but I know about your past, and you of all people is telling me to run from everything I ever knew."

Natasha went quiet and Phoenix revelled in the triumph as she sat back in her chair. She thought she one this battle, but Natasha had another idea. It was beyond risking, there was no telling what might happen if she went through with it, but she had to try at least

"What happened to your parents?" Natasha asked abruptly cutting off Phoenix's moment of triumph.

Phoenix looked confused. "What?"

"Every child has parents, where are yours?" Natasha questioned calmly.

"I-I don't," Phoenix stuttered, lost in her words, a rare event.

Natasha knew she was unprepared for the question. So she struck again and caught her while she was off-guard. "When were you born?" Natasha kept asking questions. Questions which she knew Phoenix was unable to answer.

"Stop it, stop," Phoenix muttered. She was rubbing her head, like she was in pain. Natasha had brought down her mental barrier, she was vulnerable. She was also starting to grow irritated and volatile. Natasha was taking a big risk, Steve knew it as well. He tensed next to Natasha and drew back slightly.

"What's your real name?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Phoenix shrieked and jumped up, slamming her palms onto the table and making the loudest, most sudden noise she could. Steve flinched but Natasha didn't move. Phoenix glared at them and then sat back down again. She put her defences back in place and sat back in her seat once again. She looked expressionless, but Natasha knew that she was running possibilities over in her mind.

Steve spoke, breaking his silence for the first time since entering the room. "Phoenix, I might not have experienced first-hand what happened to you, but I do know that it would've caused you pain. Join SHIELD, put the past behind you and live. I'm not telling you to forget, I'm asking you to be the better person here and stop believing that the only thing left for you to do is die."

"Pain I can handle Captain Rogers," Phoenix spoke quietly. "I've been handling it my whole life. What I find most difficult to deal with is that I've always followed orders, and now I have none to follow. I don't know what to do. All I know is that I was lied to. I obeyed the words of the man who was responsible for everything that happened to me. Everything they made me do, in the end it was all done in vain," she leaned forward and looked him directly in the eye. "Please, just let me die, just let it all end."

"It has ended Phoenix," Natasha leaned forward and pulled her attention away from Steve once again. "He's gone now, you don't have to follow after him and obey his orders anymore. The other children are back home with their families. You've got nowhere to go. Why don't you accept the offer?"

"Weren't you listening to what I just told you?" Phoenix flared her nostrils as she looked at Natasha bitterly. "I've got nothing to live for."

"You can have a second chance at SHIELD," Natasha answered.

She scoffed. "Yeah sure, because everyone here would love for a well-known mass murderer to be walking around SHIELD headquarters unguarded," she remarked sarcastically.

"So you would rather die?" Natasha asked.

"Yep," she answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Then let me rephrase your options to put things into a different perspective," Natasha said folding her arms. "You can either give up. Or you can go out there into the real world and make a difference, you can live, and you can fight for what you believe in, not matter what anyone tells you."

Phoenix thought for a minute. Then she looked up at Natasha, her expression was no longer bitter. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"You don't," Natasha said as she smiled. Natasha knew exactly what Phoenix's mindset was. If anything was going to work, then this would be it. "But you don't really have any other option. So what's your answer Phoenix? Are you going to give up and let Doctor Blake win? Or are you going to do something about it?"

It took her a minute of careful thinking. She had nothing; everything she thought she had in the world was dead to her, literally. All her life she had been taught to hate these very same people trying to recruit her. But she was taught everything she knew by a liar. What else did she have to lose?

Sitting in front of her now and looking at her expectantly were two of the world's greatest heroes. If they believed she could be changed then maybe it was possible to put it all behind her, but it was SHIELD and they had always been the enemy. At least until she discovered who the real enemy was.

She had no idea what she was getting herself into, she knew nothing about the world. How could she learn to be human if she'd been raised a demon. She would have to learn of course, the prospect was oddly exciting, to be normal, or whatever was the closest she could get to normal.

She made a decision in that second that she knew was the right path.

For the first time in her life Phoenix could form a genuine smile.


	21. Epilogue: The Phoenix

**A/N: Unfortunately my wonderful readers this is the last chapter of Love and Fire, but it is not end of Phoenix. I'm currently in the process of planning for the second story in this story called Ice and Fire and it will be set two months after this story and will involve everyone's favourite character, I think you all know who. For the last time in this story, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

"So how have you liked your stay at Stark Tower?" Natasha asked as she and Phoenix walked out of the training room together and into the lift.

Phoenix though to herself for a minute, "It's different to what I'm used to," she said, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She looked better, Natasha though, more human now, happier. Although she would sometimes slip away into her own mind, thinking back on things Natasha knew were the very definition of horror. Phoenix wasn't ok, not by a long shot, but she was healing.

"What time do you leave tomorrow?" Natasha questioned just as they arrived on the correct floor.

"A car's picking me up at at 0300," Phoenix answered.

Phoenix was being sent away to a training camp at a secure location somewhere in Africa or the Middle East. Wherever it was, it was far away from where Natasha was planning on being. Phoenix would be there for two months, doing all sorts of Army issue combat training with several Marines and other SHIELD agents. Natasha wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it but Fury was adamant on sending Phoenix away.

"I still think it's too soon for you to be going off on a full SHIELD training course," Natasha shook her head. "You were supposed to be here for another three weeks. Fury's getting too far ahead of himself, I honestly think he expects too much of you too soon."

"Actually I'm the one that requested I leave earlier than planned," Phoenix confessed.

Natasha stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face Phoenix "Why?" she asked.

For a second she considered the possibility that Phoenix didn't want to stay with them. Natasha couldn't blame her though, the Avengers were the ones that had hunted her down for over a week in an attempt to capture her. It probably wasn't a good environment for happy memories either.

"I have to get away from all this," Phoenix admitted. "Put it all behind me and just try to move on. You were right Natasha im not ready to give up but if I want to commit to this then I need to try and be a better person or whatever that thing you said was. I feel like the only way I can do that is to do something completely new and distract myself."

Natasha nodded in understanding, she got everything Phoenix said because she'd experienced it herself once before. "Are you gonna come back here or move on completely?"

"I'm defienetly coming back," Phoenix told her sounding confident.

"Best news I've heard all day," Natasha turned around to match the voice to a person and saw Clint walking towards them. She kept a straight face when really she became anxious to leave the scene as soon as possible. No way in hell was she ready to face him yet. "We'll miss you Phoenix."

"It's only two months," Phoenix shrugged and looked from Natasha to Clint, he was now watching the other assassin closely. Phoenix didn't really know much about normal interaction but she could tell that Clint wanted to speak with Natasha alone. "I'm just gonna go into my room, I'll see you guys in the morning before I leave."

Phoenix exited the scene quickly as she retreated to her room, leaving Natasha alone with Clint. A situation Natasha was not ready to face. Before she could say anything or even try to leave Clint met her eyes with a stare that demanded she stay, and not run away, so she didn't move.

"You've been avoiding me," Clint stated after a minute of awkward silence.

"I've been busy with Phoenix," Natasha told him, intent on getting away whenever she could.

"You're the best liar I've ever seen but I'm not an idiot Nat," Clint scoffed. "You've been avoiding me and I think we both know why."

Natasha looked him up and down and then folded her arms, refusing to look him in the eye. "Why don't we just both forget about everything that happened and move on," the words tasted bitter on her tongue as Natasha released them from her mouth unwillingly.

"I don't want to forget it." Natasha's eyes finally met his and he laughed in spite of himself. "Look Natasha if you want to move on from this that's fine, but I'm not moving on. I actually care about you and I know that we're friends and partners but that's not going to change anything to me, or how I see you. Because I see you Nat, not just as an assassin or a spy, but as a friend, more than a friend actually. I see you as the person you really are and this whole speech sounded a lot better when I was practising it in the bathroom mirror."

Natasha, for one of the first times in her life, was both stunned and speechless at the sudden declaration from her partner. He looked at her expectantly but she could find no words, biting on her lip and looking down at the ground she thought for any possible way she could respond.

"You seriously practised what you were going to say in a mirror?" were the only words Natasha could form properly.

"Natasha I just need a straight up answer here," for once Clint was being serious and that's exactly how Natasha knew she wouldn't be able to avoid confrontation any longer. "I don't want some sappy declaration of love because I know you're not the kind of person that does that, but I need to know if you see any sense or any possibility of this working."

"Any possibility of what working I don't even know what you're talking about," continuing to lie through her teeth, Natasha was still adamant on getting away from the situation. She wasn't ready to confess anything to anyone yet, especially not Clint.

"Us Natasha," Clint replied in a low, almost pleading voice. "I'm probably being delusional here but when we kissed in that elevator, it wasn't just me. I know that we're partners, and that romance is forbidden among SHIELD agents but I'm beyond caring about that now. Can I have a straight answer this time because I think I deserve that much at least?"

Natasha was still unable to form a sincere statement and run it through in her head to make sure she wasn't saying anything stupid, so this time the only thing she could do was talk without thinking. Probably one of the dumbest things she'd ever done but it was her only option if she was going to be fair to Clint.

"I do see the sense in it Clint and if there were any way then I would be more than willing to try this," she answered, surprised at the truth in her own words. "Over the past month I've sort of come to realise that I do care about you in that way and no one was more shocked than me because I always make a rule wherever I go that I don't have romantic relations with any co-workers, but obviously this time I broke that rule."

"Seriously?" Clint was a little bit shocked now. "So that kiss was not just me being a creep, you were actually kissing me back? I thought I imagined that."

"It was a good kiss," Natasha gave him a small smile which he returned with an odd laugh and a ridiculous grin.

For a minute Clint didn't know what to say, until something came into his head. "I know this great Chinese place not too far from here. I know you're not really happy about the whole no relationships with other SHIELD agents thing, but personally I think we could try one date."

"What if we get caught?" Natasha asked with a smirk.

"We won't get caught," Clint shrugged. "We are the best covert spys in the world, I think we can at least try having a secret relationship."

Natasha laughed and shook her head, meeting Clint's eyes once again and smiling. "This is possibly one of the craziest things we have ever done and if we get caught then it's over."

"So that's a yes then?" Clint joked, causing both of them to start laughing. He moved to stand by her side an surprisingly she didn't say anything when he took her hand in his and they walked together back towards the lift. "You're right by the way, this is a bad idea. For one thing we're already moving way too quick, and Fury has eyes everywhere. Not to mention if Tony begins to suspect anything he'll follow us around everywhere."

"You know for once I don't actually care," Natasha said as they stepped into the elevator.

They finalised the decision of their new relationship as Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her. Clint was quick to react, smiling against her lips as he put his own arms around her waist. This time they could both genuinely enjoy their kiss, as they decided to go against everything they knew was right.


End file.
